Sound Shore Management Inc CT Invests $76.60 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Sound Shore Management Inc CT bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 434,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,603,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.6% of Sound Shore Management Inc CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

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

Alphabet Trading Up 3.1%

GOOGL opened at $285.02 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $293.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $258.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 222,396 shares of company stock worth $54,151,037. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. China Renaissance upped their price target on Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. New Street Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Westpark Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.10.

Alphabet Company 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.