Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,731,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,762 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.9% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $385,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Caliber Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 75,729 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,985,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 7.2% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 50,542 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,374 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 56.5% in the third quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 6,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the third quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 27,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,658,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $157.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.27 and a twelve month high of $161.70. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $147.65 and its 200 day moving average is $142.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

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.