Morningstar Investment Management LLC Acquires 11,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC has increased its position in Alphabet Inc. by 3.8%, making it the firm's 10th largest holding at approximately $46.9 million.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, contributing to a 0.4% yield and a low payout ratio of 8.95%.
• Analysts have recently set a consensus target price of $211.53 for Alphabet's shares, indicating a mix of ratings including 29 buy ratings and 10 hold ratings from various research firms.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,207 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 4.0% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.43 during trading on Thursday, hitting $196.52. 26,014,319 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,916,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $179.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet 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.