Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 90.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,095,788 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 521,515 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $207,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 101,347 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,460,000 after acquiring an additional 13,582 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 5,996,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,092,214,000 after purchasing an additional 67,177 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 31.6% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 36,424 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,635,000 after purchasing an additional 8,754 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.9% in the second quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,334 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,340,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after buying an additional 1,949,476 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $204.02 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $205.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $188.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.