B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.2%, now holding 2,721,620 shares worth approximately $420.87 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their target prices for Alphabet, with estimates ranging from $205 to $235, signaling a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Alphabet has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a yield of 0.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,721,620 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 109,753 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.3% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Alphabet were worth $420,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,608 shares of company stock valued at $47,204,035. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $211.64 on Friday. 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 $212.22. The company has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average is $189.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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