Jennison Associates LLC Has $3.27 Billion Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,405,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 739,995 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.4% of Jennison Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,269,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rainey & Randall Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Rainey & Randall Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,513 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $1,328,000. Prism Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Prism Advisors Inc. now owns 2,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 4,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James increased their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,209 shares of company stock valued at $36,711,144 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.71 and a 52-week high of $174.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.36 and a 200-day moving average of $141.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%.

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.