Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 1,102,269 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,520,067 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,102,269 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,191,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in 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 valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after acquiring an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,960. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,605 shares of company stock worth $29,277,931 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $163.95 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.68. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $191.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (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 $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.35.

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.