Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $1.91 Billion Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,092,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 348,335 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.1% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,910,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after acquiring an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 11,817 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. StoneX Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 37,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,257,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,950 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,871 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $145.60 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $175.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.38 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet 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.