Rathbones Group PLC Acquires 153,945 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,746,627 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 153,945 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.6% of Rathbones Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $836,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $289.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $306.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $261.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Bank of America raised their target price on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $247.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.33.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 192,674 shares of company stock worth $48,454,423. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.