Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Takes $3.54 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 18,580 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,538,000. Alphabet makes up about 3.1% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $927,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 44.2% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,032,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $172,620,000 after acquiring an additional 316,674 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.54 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $177.04 and its 200 day moving average is $178.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

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.