Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 131.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 168,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,666 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.7% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $787,000. New Hampshire Trust grew its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP increased its stake in Alphabet by 58.4% in the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,046,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $222.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.08.

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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $161.85 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.