Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Raised by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,951,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200,891 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of American International Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $272,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,063,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,874,168. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.00. The company has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.35 and a 12 month high of $180.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total transaction of $3,347,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,310,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $343,710,216.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total value of $3,347,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,310,191 shares in the company, valued at $343,710,216.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,958 shares of company stock worth $25,805,853 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.26.

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.