Altshuler Shaham Ltd Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5,576.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,751,573 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,720,715 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 11.2% of Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $331,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Alphabet by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after acquiring an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $151.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $165.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.84.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. The trade was a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.