Versor Investments LP Buys 5,838 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Versor Investments LP lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,838 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.4% of Versor Investments LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.2% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 184,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,522,000 after buying an additional 5,750 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,599,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 131,412 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,074,000 after acquiring an additional 3,105 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the second quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors now owns 9,161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the second quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 25,745 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,537,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 221,796 shares of company stock valued at $53,983,001. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up previously from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, CICC Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.10.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.8%

Alphabet stock opened at $278.57 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $292.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $256.42 and a 200 day moving average of $207.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 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.