Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires New Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 192,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,081,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 107.9% in the first quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 46.2% in the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,025 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,167 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 46,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $246.43 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.43.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.33.

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.