Rathbones Group PLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

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Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,592,682 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 97,533 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.4% of Rathbones Group PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $710,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 222,219 shares of company stock worth $40,725,772. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Westpark Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research 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 research note on Monday, July 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $0.5110 on Thursday, reaching $199.8310. The company had a trading volume of 10,642,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,269,441. 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 quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $185.70 and its 200 day moving average is $173.38. The company has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.