NS Partners Ltd Purchases 6,304 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

NS Partners Ltd raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 704,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,304 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.5% of NS Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $134,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after acquiring an additional 259,213 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after acquiring an additional 875,480 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,274 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $175.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $189.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 $134.80 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.