Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,086,101 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,421 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of USS Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $205,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $166.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $158.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.