Prudential PLC Purchases 8,818 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Prudential PLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,818 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $53,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Moment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elgethun Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 8,487 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $314.49 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $270.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.62. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $328.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. 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:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid 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 is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. New Street Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citic Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $343.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 225,072 shares of company stock valued at $58,074,027. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.