Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys 616,622 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,086,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 616,622 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.1% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,425,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during 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 during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% during 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. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, S&T Bank PA boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 40.2% in the second quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up previously from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Melius Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.73.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $314.49 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $270.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $328.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 225,072 shares of company stock worth $58,074,027. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.