S Bank Fund Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 110,752 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired 110,752 shares of Alphabet Inc. valued at approximately $17.1 million, making this investment about 3.2% of their portfolio and the company's fourth-largest holding.
• Insider trading activity was noted, with CEO Sundar Pichai and Director Kavitark Ram Shriram selling significant amounts of stock, resulting in decreases of 1.25% and 7.09% in their respective ownerships.
• Wall Street analysts have increased price targets for Alphabet, with Citigroup and KeyCorp raising their targets to $225.00 and $230.00 respectively, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook despite varied ratings.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 110,752 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $17,127,000. Alphabet comprises 3.2% of S Bank Fund Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Enzi Wealth boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $4.7720 on Friday, hitting $204.5220. The company had a trading volume of 10,607,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,160,371. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.37. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

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.