Generation Investment Management LLP Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Generation Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 23.3%, acquiring an additional 732,631 shares, bringing their total to about $600 million in value.
• Several large investors have expanded their stakes in Alphabet, with notable increases including 30.4% from Promethium Advisors and 51.1% from Dark Forest Capital Management.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.4%, to be paid out on September 15th.

Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 23.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,881,774 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 732,631 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.6% of Generation Investment Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Generation Investment Management LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $600,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Promethium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.4% during the first quarter. Promethium Advisors LLC now owns 24,812 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,837,000 after buying an additional 5,780 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,338 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 30,748 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,755,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 1,494,352 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $231,124,000 after purchasing an additional 233,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 51.1% in the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 152,604 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,599,000 after purchasing an additional 51,616 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Westpark Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $212.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $214.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 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 forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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