Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Franklin Resources Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 51.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,843,853 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,607,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $31,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd 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 during the period. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in 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% during 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. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total transaction of $32,401.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,750,916.64. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $683,642,180.16. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 193,628 shares of company stock valued at $50,942,622 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $315.81 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $328.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $285.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citic Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.06.

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