IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $153.52 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

IFM Investors Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 982,650 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,659 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.7% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $153,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $239.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $199.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.55. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $240.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.