Norway Savings Bank Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Norway Savings Bank raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,549 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after buying an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5 %

Alphabet stock traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $196.88. 10,909,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,097,542. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.11. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.