Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Covington Investment Advisors Inc.

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 225,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,980 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.8% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $42,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,874,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,092,000. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,992,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in Alphabet by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 6,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $164.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $182.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.