Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 110,544,181 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 110,544,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,441,917,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.7% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Norges Bank owned about 0.88% of Alphabet as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Meritage Group LP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.57.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $174.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.70. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.35 and a 1-year high of $178.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

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.