AIA Group Ltd Acquires 7,017 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,017 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $505,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,729 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 68,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,401,000 after acquiring an additional 2,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $156.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,097,111 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.56.

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.