Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 10,165 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 629,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,165 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $98,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $189.95 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $179.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.19.

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.