Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 1,502,797 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Rating) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,544,670 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,502,797 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,724,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DC Investments Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $114,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $225,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $206,000. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.1% during the first quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC now owns 99 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $281,000. 34.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ann Mather sold 380 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.05, for a total value of $34,219.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,565. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ann Mather sold 380 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.05, for a total value of $34,219.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,565. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.15, for a total value of $57,425.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,293,596.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 732,217 shares of company stock worth $21,135,371 and sold 753,384 shares worth $30,574,577. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $123.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.13. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $83.34 and a twelve month high of $126.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $69.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.19 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 22.84% and a net margin of 20.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $130.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Alphabet from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alphabet from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.56.

About Alphabet

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Alphabet, Inc engages in the business of delivering online advertising, cloud-based solutions that provide enterprise customers with infrastructure and platform services, the provision of communication and collaboration tools, and sales of other products and services such as apps and in-app purchases, hardware, and subscription-based products.