Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 400,625 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $75,838,000. Alphabet makes up about 4.6% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

Alphabet stock traded up $2.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.07. The company had a trading volume of 30,638,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,380,987. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $178.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Remove Ads

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.49.

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.