Dakota Wealth Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Dakota Wealth Management has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) by 2.4% during the second quarter, now owning 165,555 shares valued at approximately $29.37 million.
• Several large investors have significantly increased their positions in Alphabet, with Kingstone Capital Partners raising its stake by over 580,000% recently, now owning 135 million shares valued at nearly $24 billion.
• A recent analyst report showed varied ratings for Alphabet, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $230.35, indicating strong confidence in the stock despite mixed individual ratings from different firms.

Dakota Wealth Management cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 165,555 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,075 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after purchasing an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.35.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $247.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $216.61 and a 200 day moving average of $184.28. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business 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%.The company's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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