BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $183.31 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 962,536 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,028 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $183,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 50,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,576,000 after acquiring an additional 12,790 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Note Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,268,000. Finally, Ames National Corp bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,046,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

GOOG opened at $165.32 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.