Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.3%, now owning 1,055,890 shares valued at approximately $163 million, making it the fund's 6th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Alphabet, with Vanguard Group lifting their stake by 2.9%, and UBS Asset Management increasing theirs by 11.4% during the first quarter.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.4%, reflecting a payout ratio of 8.95%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,055,890 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,556 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.8% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $163,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $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 worth $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $221.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 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 transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.20 on Thursday, reaching $240.37. 30,544,923 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,138,924. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $200.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $242.25. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio 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.