Magellan Asset Management Ltd Has $227.28 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.9%, now owning approximately $227.28 million in shares, making it the 13th largest holding in its portfolio.
• Alphabet reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31 for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and revealed a quarterly dividend of $0.21 to be paid on September 15th.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their stakes in Alphabet, with hedge funds owning 40.03% of the company's stock, reflecting growing confidence in the tech giant's performance.

Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,469,759 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,092 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.8% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $227,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $203.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $184.25 and a 200-day moving average of $173.20. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related 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 value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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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