Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Hancock Whitney Corp

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 10.6% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 2,405 shares and bringing their total holdings to 25,066 shares valued at approximately $3.916 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG, also raised their positions in Alphabet, showing a growing confidence in the company's stock.
• Alphabet recently posted earnings that surpassed expectations, reporting $2.31 EPS and a 13.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, contributing to an overall positive outlook from analysts.

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,066 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 75,402 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the period. Finally, Family Management Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 7,319 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

GOOG traded down $0.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $234.16. 22,688,150 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,015,701. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $196.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $238.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Alphabet 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.