Boston Partners Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Boston Partners boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 239.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44,546 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Cvfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cvfg LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the second quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 8,929 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,584,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 10,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.3% in the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $279.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $257.00 and a 200-day moving average of $208.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $292.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.33, for a total transaction of $269,342.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,584.61. The trade was a 6.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,778.72. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001. 12.99% of the stock is 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.