Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Lessened by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,581,568 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 240,093 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.1% of Axa S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $682,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Alphabet by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 76,750 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,616,000 after buying an additional 10,537 shares during the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $2,639,000. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $165.81 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.25 and a 200 day moving average of $177.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.