J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 7.1%, owning 778,078 shares valued at approximately $120.3 million.
• A number of analysts have set new price targets for Alphabet, with Tigress Financial raising their target from $220 to $240 and multiple firms assigning "overweight" ratings.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 to be paid on September 15th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.4% and a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 778,078 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 51,636 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.2% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Alphabet were worth $120,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $202.31. 9,922,316 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,638,750. 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 price of $182.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.02. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

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 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 company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.