Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,507,964 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,027 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.7% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $233,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. AWM Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. AWM Capital LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the first quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 35,234 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the first quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the first quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,828 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,994,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abbot Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the first quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 36,820 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,694,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.39.
Read Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
Alphabet Stock Performance
NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $195.04 on Tuesday. 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 $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. The business's fifty day moving average is $178.85 and its 200 day moving average is $172.81.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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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