PGGM Investments Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

PGGM Investments grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 517,109 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,689 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of PGGM Investments’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Defined Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4 %

GOOGL stock opened at $167.24 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.97 and a twelve month high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet 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 value of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.