Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Acorns Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Acorns Advisers LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 19.1% during the first quarter, owning 6,886 shares valued at approximately $1,076,000.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, reporting $2.31 EPS, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12, with revenue increasing by 13.8% year-over-year to $96.43 billion.
• In addition to Acorns, several funds like Principia Wealth Advisory and MorganRosel Wealth Management acquired new stakes in Alphabet, contributing to a overall institutional ownership of 27.26% in the company.

Acorns Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,886 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Acorns Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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. raised 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. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $786,942,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $241.38. 14,519,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,942,092. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $242.57. The firm's 50 day moving average is $201.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.39. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.