Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 3,973 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

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Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 282,700 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,973 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.2% of Westpac Banking Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 222,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,725,772. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $0.5110 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $199.8310. 10,642,688 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,269,441. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $185.70 and a 200 day moving average of $173.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.