JBF Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

JBF Capital Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,464,000. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of JBF Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,178,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,310,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after buying an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $206.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.35.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares in the company, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,960. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 180,867 shares of company stock worth $29,878,106 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $163.11 and its 200 day moving average is $166.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Alphabet Company 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.