Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $954.41 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,041,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 481,945 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $954,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after acquiring an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 37,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,199,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 137,669 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,703,000 after acquiring an additional 22,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $158.80 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,053 shares of company stock worth $25,339,647. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.46.

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.