Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Lifted by Nvest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Nvest Financial LLC significantly increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 160.9% during the second quarter, now owning shares valued at $1,017,000.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares at an average price of $250.15, reducing his ownership stake in the company by 1.35%.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analyst estimates, with a revenue of $96.43 billion, marking a 13.8% year-over-year increase.

Nvest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 160.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,732 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,535 shares during the quarter. Nvest Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after purchasing an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $369,713,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,372 shares of company stock worth $55,110,740. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

Alphabet stock opened at $253.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $232.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $257.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.68.

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.

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