336,846 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Acquired by Ruffer LLP

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP purchased 336,846 shares of Alphabet Inc. valued at approximately $59 million, making it the firm's 8th largest holding.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings per share of $2.31 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $96.43 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 336,846 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $59,362,000. Alphabet accounts for about 2.6% of Ruffer LLP's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $244.05 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $217.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.44.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 257,866 shares of company stock worth $52,363,610. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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