Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC Has $3.88 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 9.7% during the first quarter, owning 24,855 shares valued at nearly $3.88 million after selling 2,668 shares.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co., increased their holdings in Alphabet, further solidifying institutional ownership, which now accounts for 27.26% of the stock.
• Alphabet’s recent earnings report showed a 13.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $96.43 billion, with earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing analyst estimates.

Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,855 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,668 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth 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 valued at $6,494,655,000 after purchasing an additional 769,335 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,827,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,870,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG traded up $2.51 on Friday, reaching $235.17. The company had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. The company has a fifty day moving average of $196.65 and a 200-day moving average of $176.89. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. 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 one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $236.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.