Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Hartford Funds Management Co LLC

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,017 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.4% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after purchasing an additional 5,336,359 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $407,367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $169.38 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $107.19 and a one year high of $174.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $151.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

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.