DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 315,138 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,951,657 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 315,138 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 6.5% of DnB Asset Management AS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,505,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Westpark Capital raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $145.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.93. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.38 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.