CX Institutional Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

CX Institutional raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,271 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,775 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after buying an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during 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 buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings 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 worth $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $177.35 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.