ING Groep NV Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 81.3%, acquiring 1,672,094 shares and bringing its total holdings to approximately $576.6 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with Citigroup now setting a target of $225.00 and others following suit, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, scheduled for payment on September 15, representing an annual yield of 0.4%.

ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 81.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,728,880 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,672,094 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.0% of ING Groep NV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. ING Groep NV's holdings in Alphabet were worth $576,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 191.1% during the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,875 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 6,483 shares during the last quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,657 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,696 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 747,386 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $115,576,000 after purchasing an additional 15,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 468,576 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $72,461,000 after buying an additional 3,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.27 on Thursday, reaching $204.23. 14,151,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,606,773. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $182.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.