Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 7.8%, acquiring an additional 8,786 shares, making it the company's fourth largest position with a total valuation of $18.69 million.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $2.31 EPS against a consensus estimate of $2.15 and revenues of $96.43 billion, surpassing predictions of $93.60 billion.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,889 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,786 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.0% of Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

GOOGL stock traded down $2.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $210.63. The company had a trading volume of 27,337,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,138,063. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $214.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a 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%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.79.

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.