Ascent Group LLC Acquires 25,709 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 39.7%, acquiring an additional 25,709 shares, bringing its total to 90,477 shares valued at approximately $14.1 million.
• Equities research analysts exhibit positive sentiment towards Alphabet, with several firms like UBS Group and Oppenheimer raising their target prices, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, with a dividend yield of 0.4%.

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 39.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 90,477 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 25,709 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth 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 valued at $6,494,655,000 after purchasing an additional 769,335 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,827,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,870,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,996 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $235.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $236.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $196.65 and a 200 day moving average of $176.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Alphabet Company 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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