Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 102,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,017 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,810,000 after buying an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $328,018,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $156.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.53 and a 200 day moving average of $178.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.