Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,270 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.3% of QV Investors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,908,000 after buying an additional 104,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,080,000 after acquiring an additional 71,057 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $15.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 64,665,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,802,202. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $147.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.54 and a 1-year high of $174.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.