Banco Santander S.A. Buys 22,517 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.5% during the first quarter, owning 517,869 shares valued at approximately $80.9 million.
• Alphabet's earnings exceeded analysts' expectations in the last quarter, reporting $2.31 per share against an estimate of $2.12 and generating $96.43 billion in revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, scheduled for payment on September 15th.

Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 517,869 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,517 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Banco Santander S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $80,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Proem Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,235,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resolute Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

GOOG stock traded down $2.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $189.95. 21,211,425 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,077,368. The stock's fifty day moving average is $179.37 and its 200-day moving average is $174.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. 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.