Copeland Capital Management LLC Invests $6.84 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 38,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,838,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $201.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.88.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $236.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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