Quantinno Capital Management LP Purchases 212,356 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 851,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 212,356 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.6% of Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $161,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $159.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $158.38 and its 200 day moving average is $175.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.