Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Lifted by BluePath Capital Management LLC

BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the third 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 stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $194.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $202.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $185.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.