Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $80.32 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.4%, now owning 519,374 shares valued at approximately $80.32 million, making it the 12th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet at $200 each, reducing his ownership by 12.63% to 6,916 shares.
• Alphabet also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 519,374 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,995 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.6% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Alphabet were worth $80,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, 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 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $201.96 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. 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 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

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.

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