Boston Partners Buys 1,292 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Boston Partners increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 7.5%, owning 18,582 shares worth $2.90 million after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds also invested in Alphabet, with principals like Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raising their holdings by 111.8% during the same period.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.4%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th.

Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,582 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners' holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.91. 21,099,072 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,041,420. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $185.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 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.