Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 12,305 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,056,116 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,305 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $391,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.28 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.67 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.