Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,999 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Meritage Group LP grew 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 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 at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total transaction of $119,784.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,665.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,629 shares of company stock valued at $37,091,240. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

GOOGL opened at $169.38 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.19 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $151.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.83. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.