Voya Investment Management LLC Has $1.48 Billion Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,821,233 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,641,758 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of Voya Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,480,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $155.65 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $163.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.64.

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.