Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 564.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.1% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $287.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $292.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,778.72. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 221,796 shares of company stock valued at $53,983,001. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America increased 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. Finally, Scotiabank set a $336.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.81.

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.