Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s 7th Largest Position

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 247.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 508,924 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 362,263 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.9% of Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $96,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.74.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $147.67 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.