TD Asset Management Inc Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 16.2%, acquiring 796,989 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately $881.94 million.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95% and a dividend yield of 0.4%, to be paid on September 15th.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Alphabet, with a consensus target of $211.39 and a majority rating the stock as a "buy."

TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,703,165 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 796,989 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of TD Asset Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. TD Asset Management Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $881,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded down $2.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $189.13. The stock had a trading volume of 34,777,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,411,184. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $178.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.96. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.39.

Alphabet Company 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.