Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by First National Advisers LLC

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.2%, now holding 30,337 shares valued at approximately $4.69 million.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 0.4%, payable on September 15th to shareholders of record as of September 8th.
• Analysts have mostly given Alphabet a positive outlook, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $211.39.

First National Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,337 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of First National Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $197.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,982,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,774,332. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.12. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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