Value Partners Investments Inc. Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 8.8% during the second quarter, holding 492,378 shares, making it the fund's largest position.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Alphabet's stock, with price targets ranging from $201.00 to $221.44 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 492,378 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 39,921 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 6.8% of Value Partners Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 79,160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756 shares during the period. Finally, Triumph Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 5,470 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $240.80 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $242.25. The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.58.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 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.

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