Black Creek Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Black Creek Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,686 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,322 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Black Creek Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Black Creek Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.9 %

Alphabet stock opened at $153.33 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $166.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.98. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.46.

Alphabet 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.