Waverton Investment Management Ltd Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,182,426 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,091 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 5.3% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $384,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $50,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.10.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $285.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $293.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 222,396 shares of company stock worth $54,151,037. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.