Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 369,677 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,498 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $65,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RDA Financial Network increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after buying an additional 2,304 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $206,542,000 after buying an additional 42,028 shares during the period. Oldfather Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Tower View Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,644 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.04.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $310.52 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $328.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $283.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. 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 return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total transaction of $32,401.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,104 shares in the company, valued at $5,750,916.64. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 228,906 shares of company stock valued at $62,127,158 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.