Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Ardent Capital Management Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Ardent Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.1%, now owning 98,143 shares, which represents 8.4% of its total holdings, valued at approximately $17.41 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Kingstone Capital Partners, have increased their stakes in Alphabet, indicating continued interest from large investors.
• Alphabet's shares opened at $252.53, with a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion and a significant increase in quarterly revenues, showing a year-over-year growth of 13.8%.

Ardent Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,143 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,216 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 8.4% of Ardent Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ardent Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,334,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,183,979,000 after acquiring an additional 440,526 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $246.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $252.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $257.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.81.

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

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.

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