Ranmore Fund Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ranmore Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 20,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,786,000. Alphabet comprises about 3.5% of Ranmore Fund Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Finally, Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Westpark Capital raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.46.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded down $4.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $151.92. 16,656,176 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,184,389. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $167.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.