Ransom Advisory Ltd Makes New $9.10 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd invested $9.10 million in Alphabet Inc., acquiring approximately 58,858 shares, which now represents 4.5% of its investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and UBS AM, have increased their stakes in Alphabet during the first quarter, reflecting strong interest in the company's stock.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing analysts' expectations, alongside a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion.

Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 58,858 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,102,000. Alphabet makes up about 4.5% of Ransom Advisory Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $4,317,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 307.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,593,201,000 after acquiring an additional 7,774,811 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $1,375,509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.20 on Thursday, hitting $240.37. The stock had a trading volume of 30,544,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,138,924. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $242.25. The company's 50 day moving average price is $200.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.44.

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.