Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by AHL Investment Management Inc.

AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,218 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 290 shares during the quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $173.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.38. 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 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Citigroup boosted their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.