Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Has $5.13 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 155.7% during the first quarter, owning 32,835 shares valued at $5.13 million.
• Alphabet reported a strong quarterly earnings result, with $96.43 billion in revenue and $2.31 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, representing a 0.4% dividend yield, with an ex-dividend date of September 8th.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 155.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,835 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,996 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $786,942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

GOOG opened at $232.66 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $232.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $195.51 and a 200-day moving average of $176.55.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions 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, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

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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