Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Raised by Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 100.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 58,875 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,525 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,325,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $278.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $256.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $292.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC lifted their target price on Alphabet from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 221,796 shares of company stock valued at $53,983,001 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.