Voyager Global Management LP Buys 25,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Voyager Global Management LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,675,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 20.2% of Voyager Global Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Voyager Global Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $506,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $159.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho cut their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.64.

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.