Alua Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alua Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 332,600 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $62,961,000. Alphabet makes up about 3.9% of Alua Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

GOOGL traded up $2.73 on Friday, reaching $164.03. 25,689,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,193,426. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.50. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.