Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by GQG Partners LLC

GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 181,679.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of GQG Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. GQG Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,376,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 70,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Alphabet by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 157,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,351,000 after purchasing an additional 60,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $183.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.