Peregrine Capital Management LLC Has $81.45 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 583,053 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 22,850 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.4% of Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $81,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.6% in the third quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the third quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,908,000 after purchasing an additional 104,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,080,000 after purchasing an additional 71,057 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.64.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $154.40 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.63 and a 52-week high of $160.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 228,839 shares of company stock worth $32,835,757 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.