Ashburton Jersey Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 343.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,710 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,919.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 477,035,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,628,484,000 after purchasing an additional 453,413,389 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,900.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 217,154,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,770,809,000 after purchasing an additional 206,300,042 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111,197.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170,420,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,036,178,000 after purchasing an additional 170,267,122 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,759.2% during the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 116,116,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,106,502,000 after purchasing an additional 109,870,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $8,335,063,000. 35.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $135.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $83.34 and a 52-week high of $138.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Alphabet had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 23.49%. The firm had revenue of $74.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $1,934,945.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,282,738.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $26,228.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,287.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $1,934,945.73. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,282,738.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,029 shares of company stock worth $12,883,371. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $140.00 to $148.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $130.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $122.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.89.

About Alphabet

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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.