Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,451,718 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,218,639 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Alphabet worth $7,278,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $185.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.56. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.03 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.