Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 777,926 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,757 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.6% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $109,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,852,868,000 after buying an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,060 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,101,040,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,800,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,058,842,000 after acquiring an additional 481,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 205,935 shares of company stock valued at $31,178,987 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $176.33. 11,403,560 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,240,740. The company has a 50-day moving average of $162.27 and a 200-day moving average of $148.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.83 and a 52-week high of $179.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

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.