Alta Advisers Ltd Buys 300 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $787,000. New Hampshire Trust lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 58.4% during the first quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 1,951,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $272,655,000 after acquiring an additional 200,891 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $191.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $162.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 180,867 shares of company stock worth $29,878,106 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upped 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.35.

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.