Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 47.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,333 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,295 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 61,587.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,539,004,000 after buying an additional 129,835,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,807.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,069,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,487,226,000 after buying an additional 54,077,519 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $3,059,614,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,368,961,000 after buying an additional 19,612,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after buying an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $157.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.27 and a twelve month high of $161.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.72.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

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.