B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,093,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $513,024,000. Alphabet makes up about 5.1% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $171.34 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.