Vanderbilt University Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Vanderbilt University grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,585 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Vanderbilt University’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $185.23 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.14.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.