Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Johnson Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Johnson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 363.8%, acquiring a total of 10,667 shares valued at approximately $1.67 million.
• Insider selling included John Kent Walker offloading 23,820 shares for over $4.6 million, reflecting a significant reduction in ownership by 35.65%.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding about 0.4%, with an ex-dividend date on September 8th.

Johnson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 363.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,667 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,367 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.2% of Johnson Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Johnson Financial Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, jvl associates llc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $4.83 on Friday, reaching $202.11. The company had a trading volume of 24,354,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,707,132. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $181.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.