Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,219,606 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,219,606 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,894,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,093,773 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $156.23 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $180.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.