Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Raised by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.9% in Q1, now owning approximately 1.8% of the company's stock, valued at $1.37 billion.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Alphabet, with Barclays now set at $235, reflecting continued optimism in the company's stock performance.
• Insider selling occurred recently, with CEO Sundar Pichai and another insider selling shares worth nearly $10 million combined, representing a slight decrease in their holdings.

Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,834,915 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 331,087 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.8% of Swedbank AB's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Swedbank AB owned about 0.07% of Alphabet worth $1,366,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, 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 value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $203.34 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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