OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 747,994 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,726 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.2% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $116,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $201.42 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $180.89 and a 200 day moving average of $172.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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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