Polymer Capital Management HK LTD Acquires Shares of 7,700 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,536 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after buying an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,898 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 76,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after buying an additional 28,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 51,749 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.8 %

GOOGL opened at $157.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.51.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.