iA Global Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 836,587 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.2% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $147,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $247.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.10.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $276.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $292.01. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $257.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 221,796 shares of company stock worth $53,983,001 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently 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.