Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Avanza Fonder AB

Key Points

• Avanza Fonder AB has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 18.4% during the second quarter, making it the fund's 8th largest position with holdings valued at approximately $60.8 million.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $96.43 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 13.8%.
• Recently, various analysts have rated Alphabet with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $227.56, while four have given it a Strong Buy rating.

Avanza Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 342,644 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 53,161 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.8% of Avanza Fonder AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Alphabet were worth $60,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $2.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $252.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,038,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,284,148. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The business's 50-day moving average is $211.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.35.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.