Davis Selected Advisers Has $470.03 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.8%, owning 3,039,483 shares valued at approximately $470 million, making it Alphabet's 14th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Alphabet, with the stock receiving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53, as some analysts raised their price targets while others downgraded their ratings.
• Insider selling has occurred, with CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares for around $6.38 million, which represents a 1.29% decrease in his holdings.

Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,039,483 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,779 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.7% of Davis Selected Advisers' investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Davis Selected Advisers' holdings in Alphabet were worth $470,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total transaction of $6,377,475.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $202.94 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $183.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. 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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