Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Lifted by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,013,961 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 106,235 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $949,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Apollon Financial LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 49,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,158,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 801,353 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,351,000 after buying an additional 108,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

GOOGL opened at $165.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.11 and its 200-day moving average is $176.78. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $147.22 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

About Alphabet

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.