Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Franklin Resources Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,843,853 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.5% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.26% of Alphabet worth $5,607,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the second quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 901,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $160,959,000 after purchasing an additional 6,535 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 454,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $80,088,000 after buying an additional 54,352 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 26,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,696,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 383.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 142,004 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $25,025,000 after buying an additional 112,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seeds Investor LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 6,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Arete raised their target price on Alphabet from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Moffett Nathanson upped their price target on Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $343.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $7,910,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,699,785.79. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,628 shares of company stock worth $50,942,622. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $315.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $271.77 and a 200-day moving average of $221.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $328.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

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.