Altshuler Shaham Ltd Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,590 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,128 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.2% of Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. American International Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 1,951,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $272,655,000 after acquiring an additional 200,891 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in Alphabet by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 1,957,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,401,000 after purchasing an additional 170,378 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 130,848 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 64,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,074,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,430 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $162.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.28. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.14.

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.