OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Acquires 1,150,522 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1,378.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,234,013 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,150,522 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $192,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $0.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $184.70. The stock had a trading volume of 21,615,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,546,006. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.40.

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.