Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 859,424 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,168 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 4.2% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $246,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates by a wide margin, signaling strong underlying business momentum. Alphabet (GOOGL) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s 82% growth suggests Alphabet’s AI spending is translating into faster cloud demand and improving monetization. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue growth and strength across search and advertising add evidence that core businesses are still healthy. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion, Helping To Drive Strong Report By Parent Alphabet

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $342.09 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.82 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $366.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $338.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $6.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $414.54.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.