Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Shell Asset Management Co.

Key Points

• Shell Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 28.4% during the second quarter, owning 198,203 shares worth approximately $34.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., have also significantly modified their positions in Alphabet, indicating heightened interest among large investors.
• Alphabet reported a Q2 earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $96.43 billion, which shows strong financial performance and growth potential.

Shell Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 28.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,203 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,884 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Shell Asset Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,034,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 178.3% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 4,003,900 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $619,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565,400 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $251.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.28. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, equities research 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 was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. HSBC assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $236.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Alphabet from $201.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 244,438 shares of company stock worth $53,216,085. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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