SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Has $2.03 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.3% of SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,034,000 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 GOOGL. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,490,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $154,716,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $178.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.49. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.