Ballentine Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,162 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.4% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $179.22 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.35 and a 52-week high of $180.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $170.54 and a 200-day moving average of $153.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 158,458 shares of company stock valued at $26,375,053. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.