ING Groep NV Buys 103,608 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 9.3%, bringing their total shares to 1,213,912, valued at approximately $189.6 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 27.26% of Alphabet's stock, with several large firms like GAMMA Investing and Northern Trust significantly increasing their positions recently.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, which provides an annual yield of 0.4%.

ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,213,912 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 103,608 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of ING Groep NV's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. ING Groep NV's holdings in Alphabet were worth $189,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,380,605,000 after buying an additional 4,247,379 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $786,942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company'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 $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of GOOG opened at $189.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $179.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.39. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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