Empire Life Investments Inc. Has $46.33 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Empire Life Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 296,572 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,348 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 3.0% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $189.95 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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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