Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,418,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,101 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $199,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veracity Capital LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in Alphabet by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in Alphabet by 33.0% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in Alphabet by 6.6% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.27 and a 12-month high of $161.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,839 shares of company stock worth $32,835,757 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.