Groupe la Francaise Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise acquired 383,368 shares of Alphabet Inc. valued at approximately $63.17 million, making it the fund's 19th largest holding.
• Alphabet reported a 13.8% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, with earnings per share at $2.31, surpassing estimates by $0.19.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 383,368 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $63,169,000. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Groupe la Francaise's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Alphabet stock traded up $6.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $206.72. The stock had a trading volume of 25,689,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,873,476. 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 cap of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $209.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $187.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.60.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.