Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Northwest Investment Counselors LLC

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,005 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after buying an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $170.54 and a 200-day moving average of $153.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $115.35 and a one year high of $180.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush upped their target price on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at $7,365,523.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,458 shares of company stock worth $26,375,053 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.