Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Raised by Liontrust Investment Partners LLP

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,225,801 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 68,186 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $189,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st 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 period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $201.57 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.20. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 242,319 shares of company stock worth $44,243,272. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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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