Maj Invest Holding Boosts Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position

Maj Invest Holding A S has increased its investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.7% during the third quarter of the year, as reported by HoldingsChannel.com. The institutional investor now owns 1,455,486 shares of the technology giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,417 shares in this period. Alphabet represents roughly 6.4% of Maj Invest Holding A S's total portfolio, making it the firm's largest equity position. At the end of the last quarter, the value of Maj Invest's holdings in Alphabet was approximately $241,392,000.

Other significant investors have also been active in the Alphabet stock market. For instance, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its Alphabet holdings by 75.0% during the second quarter and now possesses 140 shares valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares. Similarly, Kings Path Partners LLC established a new investment in Alphabet worth around $36,000, while Tributary Capital Management LLC added a new stake valued at approximately $30,000 earlier in the first quarter. Additionally, Denver PWM LLC and Quarry LP entered new positions valued at $41,000 and $53,000, respectively, during the second quarter. It is noteworthy that hedge funds and other institutional investors own about 40.03% of Alphabet's total stock.

Recent Analyst Ratings Changes

In recent assessments from equities research analysts, several updates on Alphabet's stock have emerged. BMO Capital Markets reduced its target price for Alphabet shares from $222.00 to $215.00, maintaining an “outperform” rating as of October 9th. JMP Securities kept a “market outperform” rating and set a target price of $200.00 as of September 25th. Furthermore, Loop Capital reiterated its “hold” rating with a $170.00 target price, while Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price from $215.00 to $220.00 on July 9th. Guggenheim also boosted its target for Alphabet shares from $195.00 to $205.00, offering a “buy” recommendation on July 24th. Currently, eight analysts rate the stock as a hold, twenty-nine as a buy, and four have given it a strong buy rating, leading to a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.76, as stated by MarketBeat.com.

Insider Trading Activity

In a development involving company insiders, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock on October 16th, at an average price of $166.30, totaling around $3,741,750. Following this transaction, he retains direct ownership of 2,106,806 shares valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This transaction reflects a minimal decrease of 0.00% in his ownership stake. Additionally, CAO Amie Thuener O’Toole sold 2,835 shares on September 10th, at an average price of $151.53, totaling $429,587.55, which also represented a 0.00% change in her stake. Over the past three months, insiders have sold a total of 220,426 shares amounting to approximately $35,993,340. Currently, insiders hold around 11.55% of Alphabet’s stock.

Current Stock Performance

As for Alphabet’s stock performance, shares opened at $163.42 recently. The company has a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, along with a current and quick ratio of 2.08 each. The stock's 50-day simple moving average stands at $161.77, with a 200-day simple moving average of $168.16. Over the past year, Alphabet's shares have fluctuated between a low of $120.21 and a high of $191.75. The company boasts a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, and a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21, alongside a beta of 1.04.

In terms of earnings, Alphabet recently released its quarterly results on July 23rd, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89, which exceeded the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company achieved revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet's net margin was 26.70%, and it recorded a return on equity of 30.49%. Analysts predict that Alphabet will report an EPS of 7.64 for the current fiscal year.

About Alphabet Inc.

Alphabet Inc. operates a diverse range of products and services across the globe, including the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. The company functions through various segments such as Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment encompasses a variety of offerings, including advertising, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

Alphabet, Invest, Stock