Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Raised by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 738,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,637 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $139,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after buying an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $629,008,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $145.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $145.38 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.68.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.