Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s 3rd Largest Position

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 712,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,873 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 6.5% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $110,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

GOOGL stock opened at $174.67 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $162.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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 is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.