Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s 4th Largest Position

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,689,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 369,105 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.8% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $445,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. State Street Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after buying an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after acquiring an additional 418,204 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

GOOGL stock opened at $189.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.68 and a fifty-two week high of $195.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $171.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.63.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.