Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Czech National Bank's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• The Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, making it the 10th largest position in its portfolio, valued at $203.57 million.
• Several major institutional investors, including Vanguard and JPMorgan, have also recently ramped up their investments in Alphabet, with Vanguard increasing its stake by 2.4% and JPMorgan by 9.9% in the 1st quarter.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,147,561 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,677 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.6% of Czech National Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Czech National Bank's holdings in Alphabet were worth $203,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,494,655,000 after acquiring an additional 769,335 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% in the 1st 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. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st 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. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $251.76 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $204.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.48. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $252.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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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