Fernbridge Capital Management LP Buys 128,495 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Fernbridge Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 130.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 227,328 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,495 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Fernbridge Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Fernbridge Capital Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $175.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.68 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Truist Financial increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,385,565. The trade was a 2.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,789 shares of company stock worth $27,374,143 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.