Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 16,336 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,336 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,035,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,453,856,000 after purchasing an additional 335,219 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,064,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,279,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 24,145,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,159,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,221 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $167.24 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.97 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.14 and its 200 day moving average is $142.32.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

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.