Saudi Central Bank Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• The Saudi Central Bank has made a new investment of approximately $306,000 in Alphabet Inc., acquiring 1,960 shares, which now represent about 1.6% of its investment portfolio.
• Several analysts have issued favorable ratings on Alphabet, with updated price targets suggesting potential growth; Oppenheimer set a target of $235.00, while Pivotal Research increased theirs from $225.00 to $245.00.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a yield of 0.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8.

Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,960 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $306,000. Alphabet makes up 1.6% of Saudi Central Bank's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $1.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $211.99. 28,219,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,654,292. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $215.34. The firm's fifty day moving average is $192.27 and its 200 day moving average is $175.60. 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 company has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.