Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Boosted by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,353,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 195,633 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 4.7% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $401,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spreng Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,878,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 296 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,115,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weik Capital Management grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 1,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,264,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ann Mather sold 380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.42, for a total transaction of $46,139.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,674. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $26,228.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,287.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ann Mather sold 380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.42, for a total transaction of $46,139.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,674. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,092 shares of company stock valued at $12,221,941. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $138.21 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $83.34 and a 52-week high of $139.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $74.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 23.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $135.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.89.

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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.