Forsta AP Fonden Has $238.29 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 2.8% in Q1, now owning approximately $238.29 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 7th largest holding.
• Insider transactions revealed that both Director Kavitark Ram Shriram and CEO Sundar Pichai sold shares, reflecting a decrease in their ownership positions in the company.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with recommendations ranging from $205 to $225, indicating strong investor interest and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,540,900 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 43,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.8% of Forsta AP Fonden's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Alphabet were worth $238,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business'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 $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $202.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $183.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.30. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

About Alphabet

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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