Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 27.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,965 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,256 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.5% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.
Read Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $196.52. The stock had a trading volume of 26,014,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,764,620. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. 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 50 day moving average price of $180.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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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