Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,679 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,996 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after acquiring an additional 294,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th 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 worth $6,494,655,000 after acquiring an additional 769,335 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Performance
NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $197.28. The stock had a trading volume of 14,292,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,208,792. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $181.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.68. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
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 paid 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%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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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