Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is CenterBook Partners LP's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 43.8% in Q1, now owning 194,231 shares valued at approximately $30 million, making it the firm's fourth largest position.
• An array of institutional investors, including Guardian Wealth Management Inc. and NBZ Investment Advisors LLC, have significantly raised their stakes in Alphabet in the same quarter.
• Equities analysts have raised their target prices for Alphabet, with Wells Fargo setting a new target of $187 and Barclays reaching $235, reflecting a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 43.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,231 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,184 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.9% of CenterBook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted 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 last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $201.96 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $182.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for 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 analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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