Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 1,003 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,697 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 61,587.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,539,004,000 after buying an additional 129,835,437 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348,188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,368,961,000 after acquiring an additional 19,612,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $155.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.27 and a 52-week high of $161.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.93. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.