Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its investment in Alphabet Inc. by acquiring an additional 25,888 shares, bringing its total holdings to over 1 million shares valued at about $161 million.
• Other major investors, like Vanguard Group, JPMorgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank, have also increased their stakes, underscoring strong institutional interest in Alphabet.
• Alphabet recently reported quarterly earnings with a significant revenue of $96.43 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, alongside announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,030,675 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,888 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Alphabet were worth $161,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 9.0%

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $19.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $231.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 70,779,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,654,292. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $231.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $194.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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