DnB Asset Management AS Buys 36,966 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 919,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,966 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of DnB Asset Management AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $175,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $164.08 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.