Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Raised by Waverton Investment Management Ltd

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,927,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 190,805 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 5.3% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $319,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,772,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,135,056 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 116.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $167.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $167.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.