Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 235,715 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,161 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.6% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in 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 buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after buying an additional 294,556 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $185.94. 20,915,424 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,587,144. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $174.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.40.

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.