Allianz SE Acquires New Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Allianz SE bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 464,806 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $88,363,000. Alphabet makes up about 2.3% of Allianz SE’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 66,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,633,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $110,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 11,946 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3,224.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 173,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,936,000 after purchasing an additional 168,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $299,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8 %

GOOGL stock opened at $146.75 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. 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’s fifty day moving average is $174.25 and its 200 day moving average is $176.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.