Diversified Trust Co Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 23.2%, resulting in a total holding of approximately $16.49 million in stock.
• Institutional investors have shown increased activity, with Vanguard Group boosting its stake by 2.4%, while Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC significantly increased its position by 580,897.4%.
• Alphabet's stock has an average target price of $227.56 with a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

Diversified Trust Co decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 23.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,971 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 28,120 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Alphabet by 21.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,653,223 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,002,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,786 shares during the period. Bell Bank increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the second quarter. Bell Bank now owns 37,516 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,655,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% during the second quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 17,159 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,044,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 100.8% during the second quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,199 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 4,115 shares during the period. Finally, Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the second quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,801 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock traded down $2.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $252.88. The company had a trading volume of 20,038,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,019,426. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.70. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.