Czech National Bank Acquires 73,598 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Czech National Bank increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,267,139 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,598 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.2% of Czech National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $239,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graypoint LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 64,918 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,289,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. Lynch & Associates IN boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 31,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 12,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,276,000 after purchasing an additional 5,602 shares during the period. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 154,387 shares of company stock valued at $27,748,931. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $192.04 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $201.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.08.

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.