WT Asset Management Ltd Buys New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 188,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,648,000. Alphabet comprises about 3.4% of WT Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

GOOG stock traded up $1.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $167.43. 14,281,621 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,309,939. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 179,065 shares of company stock valued at $31,025,543. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

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.