Intech Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 961,855 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 185,116 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.8% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $159,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fidelity National Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,365,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 499,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $82,853,000 after acquiring an additional 23,644 shares in the last quarter. Payden & Rygel lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 83,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,815,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 92,010 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,260,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 108,581 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,008,000 after buying an additional 3,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $174.37 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $169.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $128.25 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.