Horizon Investments LLC Acquires 2,101 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 20.9% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 12,172 shares valued at approximately $1.9 million.
• Recent insider transactions revealed that Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares at an average price of $185.76, decreasing their ownership by 7.09%.
• Alphabet's most recent earnings report showed a 13.8% increase in quarterly revenue, totaling $96.43 billion, surpassing analyst expectations.

Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 20.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,172 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $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 valued at about $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

GOOG stock traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $204.91. The stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,041,420. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. 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 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $185.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's 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.