By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,137,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $404,545,000. Alphabet comprises 1.9% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %
GOOGL stock opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.49.
Read Our Latest Analysis on GOOGL
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.
Further Reading
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