Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,376,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,308 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.5% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $204,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,873,000 after buying an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $206.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $208.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.