Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Raised by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,981 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 15,185 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.5% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 395.0% in the first quarter. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd now owns 99,000 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,309,000 after buying an additional 79,000 shares during the last quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 39,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,243,255 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $965,131,000 after acquiring an additional 434,440 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.6% in the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 294,528 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $45,546,000 after purchasing an additional 28,159 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,928,000 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $298,053,000 after acquiring an additional 133,604 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $203.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $184.80 and a 200-day moving average of $173.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other 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 transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, 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 through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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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