Wesleyan Assurance Society Buys 80,185 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wesleyan Assurance Society lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 514,130 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 80,185 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.9% of Wesleyan Assurance Society's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Wesleyan Assurance Society's holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Enzi Wealth raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.39.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $3.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $188.81. The company had a trading volume of 17,717,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 37,048,895. The firm's fifty day moving average is $177.91 and its 200 day moving average is $173.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business'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 sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.