Allstate Corp Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Allstate Corp has increased its ownership in Alphabet Inc. by 15.8%, acquiring an additional 27,455 shares, bringing its total holdings to 201,443 shares valued at approximately $31.15 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Northern Trust Corp, have also recently boosted their positions in Alphabet, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Alphabet's latest earnings report revealed a profit of $2.31 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th.

Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 15.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 201,443 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,455 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.9% of Allstate Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Allstate Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,317,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $207.48. The company had a trading volume of 22,957,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,314,084. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $188.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.75. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $210.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.