NS Partners Ltd Has $116.74 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

NS Partners Ltd lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 698,253 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,456 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.9% of NS Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. NS Partners Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $116,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,963,128,000 after acquiring an additional 979,083 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,414,179,000 after purchasing an additional 684,968 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,688,743,000 after purchasing an additional 636,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $2.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $176.98. 8,719,369 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,512,363. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.87. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % 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, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.56.

About Alphabet

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.