Norges Bank Makes New $15.44 Billion Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 110,544,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,441,917,000. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Norges Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,336,359 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $407,367,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8 %

GOOGL opened at $174.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.70. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $115.35 and a one year high of $178.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target (up from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.57.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.