Saturna Capital Corp Has $271.16 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Saturna Capital Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,432,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.7% of Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $271,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.1% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $120,834,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $1,820,000. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 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.