Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 1,632,691 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,499,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,632,691 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.4% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,375,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 29,159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 16,440 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,283 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $620,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 202,667 shares of company stock worth $33,964,256. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $163.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $166.71 and its 200 day moving average is $166.58. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.46 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.