Confluence Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,843 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,843 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.26.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $175.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.35 and a 12-month high of $180.41.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.