Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Increased by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 28.8%, owning 536,082 shares worth approximately $85.17 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $2.31 earnings per share and $96.43 billion in revenue, up 13.8% year-over-year.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95% and a yield of 0.4%, set to be paid on September 15th.

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 28.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 536,082 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 119,720 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.7% of Ethic Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $85,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds 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 increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.91. 21,099,072 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,037,520. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $185.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. 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.