M&G Plc Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

M&G Plc purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,415 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,240,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 360.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after acquiring an additional 15,848 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Broderick Brian C purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,529,000. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 20,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 510,030 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $77,657,000 after buying an additional 6,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 242,552 shares of company stock worth $40,287,253 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $179.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.40 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet 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.