Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Purchases New Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 400,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,838,000. Alphabet accounts for 4.6% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $286,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Alphabet by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,773,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $714,370,000 after buying an additional 755,695 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,595 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 7,588,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,436,414,000 after buying an additional 95,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Resources Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Milestone Resources Group Ltd now owns 1,485,348 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $281,176,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $154.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.83 and its 200 day moving average is $177.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,093,773. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.49.

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.