Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Purchases 43,468 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,040,236 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,468 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.6% of Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $388,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 412,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $78,591,000 after purchasing an additional 26,890 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division now owns 9,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 4,024,516 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $766,037,000 after buying an additional 342,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 35,222 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,708,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.88.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $153.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $20,286,447 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.