S Bank Fund Management Ltd Buys Shares of 48,100 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd has invested approximately $7.52 million to acquire 48,100 shares of Alphabet Inc., making it 1.4% of their investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Alphabet during the first quarter, with notable purchases including 85 shares by Principia Wealth Advisory LLC and $32,000 positions from two other firms.
• Alphabet has reported positive quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations, while announcing a $0.21 dividend to be paid in mid-September.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 48,100 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,515,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of S Bank Fund Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,664,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $204.91. 20,587,912 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,993,691. The company has a 50 day moving average of $184.61 and a 200-day moving average of $174.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid 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 yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.