Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,117,971 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 214,420 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $435,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $3,219,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,980,728.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $3,219,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,355,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,980,728.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,629 shares of company stock valued at $37,091,240. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.9 %

GOOGL opened at $171.25 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $151.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $105.16 and a one year high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

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.