Boston Common Asset Management LLC Buys 22,947 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its Alphabet Inc. holdings by 13.5%, purchasing an additional 22,947 shares, reaching a total of 193,376 shares valued at approximately $34 million.
• Several institutional investors, including **Vanguard Group Inc.** and **Nuveen LLC**, also bolstered their positions in Alphabet during the first quarter, indicating strong interest from large financial entities.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded their price targets for Alphabet, with estimates ranging from $220 to $290, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook on the company's performance.

Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,376 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,947 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Boston Common Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after buying an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,034,992,000 after buying an additional 3,537,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 178.3% in the first quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 4,003,900 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $619,163,000 after buying an additional 2,565,400 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.88.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. The trade was a 9.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 276,338 shares of company stock worth $59,062,683. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $226.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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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