Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,928,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 120,381 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.1% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $554,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $189.52 and a 200-day moving average of $176.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

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.