Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Buys 233,371 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its investment in Alphabet Inc. by 18.5%, acquiring an additional 233,371 shares, raising its total holdings to 1,494,352 shares.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, with a reported earnings per share of $2.31 against an estimate of $2.15, and revenues reached $96.43 billion.
• The company has been reinforced by positive analyst ratings, with four analysts giving a Strong Buy rating and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,494,352 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 233,371 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Alphabet were worth $231,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 152,604 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,599,000 after purchasing an additional 51,616 shares during the period. Chiron Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 98.9% during the 1st quarter. Chiron Capital Management LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045,421 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $161,664,000 after acquiring an additional 25,020 shares during the period. SHANDA ASSET MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $23,196,000. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 224,862 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $34,773,000 after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

GOOGL opened at $212.91 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $214.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $191.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.