Impax Asset Management Group plc Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after buying an additional 3,189,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after buying an additional 294,556 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $180.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.38.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.