Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Buys 21,145 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,531,459 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,145 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 5.7% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $236,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.2% in the first quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 24,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 113,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,559,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. HT Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the first quarter. HT Partners LLC now owns 11,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 12,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,897,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.9% in the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 6,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $176.77 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.74. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.