Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 8.2%, acquiring an additional 725,460 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $1.68 billion.
• Alphabet recently reported an EPS of $2.31 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues of $96.43 billion, also above the consensus estimate.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,560,375 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 725,460 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.9% of Swedbank AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Swedbank AB owned 0.08% of Alphabet worth $1,684,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after acquiring an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after acquiring an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,962,389,000 after acquiring an additional 104,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $251.14. The company had a trading volume of 7,828,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,669,504. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $210.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.96. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane restated a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.31.

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.