Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,584,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,660 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.10% of Alphabet worth $2,041,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st 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. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% during the second 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. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 225,174 shares of company stock worth $58,095,223 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.33.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $299.66 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $262.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.84. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $306.42.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

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.