Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,431,757 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,596 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.5% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $190,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $177.85 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $158.79 and a 200-day moving average of $145.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.35 and a twelve month high of $178.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.