Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 106,672 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,523,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.6% of Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,923 shares of company stock worth $34,244,676 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $185.17 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.68 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $169.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.21. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.03.

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.