Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Vident Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 31.7% during Q1, making it the 9th largest position in its portfolio with a total holding of $98.9 million.
• Several large investors, including Nuveen LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, significantly increased their investments in Alphabet, reflecting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.31, surpassing analyst expectations, and a planned quarterly dividend of $0.21 was also announced.

Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 31.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 639,276 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 153,740 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.4% of Vident Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $98,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nia Impact Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.27 on Monday, hitting $212.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,702,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $214.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $190.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.96. 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:GOOGL - 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Alphabet Profile

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.