Capula Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Capula Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 440,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,794,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.5% of Capula Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $927,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,184,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,039,000 after buying an additional 704,875 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.0 %

Alphabet stock opened at $149.24 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Westpark Capital began coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

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.