Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Northern Trust Corp's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.1%, making it the 8th largest position in its investment portfolio, now valued at approximately $8.65 billion.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings of $2.31 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion, which is a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15th, representing a yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Northern Trust Corp trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,347,459 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,750,583 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of Northern Trust Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.46% of Alphabet worth $8,646,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG traded down $2.24 on Wednesday, hitting $200.25. 11,776,718 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,779,943. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $186.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,319 shares of company stock worth $44,243,272 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.