Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Raised by Cove Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Cove Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. by 43.9%, now holding approximately $7.82 million worth of shares, which makes it the firm's 6th largest position.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analyst expectations, reporting an EPS of $2.31 on a revenue of $96.43 billion, outpacing estimates of $93.60 billion.
• Insider sales were notable, with CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares at $184.38 per share, reflecting a 1.27% decrease in his ownership.

Cove Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,394 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,535 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Cove Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Cove Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Alphabet by 307.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,593,201,000 after buying an additional 7,774,811 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,034,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $243.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $218.05 and a 200 day moving average of $184.24. 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 twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 225,469 shares of company stock valued at $46,586,752. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.

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