KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 17,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,740,120 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,700 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Alphabet were worth $271,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during 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 during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOG traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $192.11. The company had a trading volume of 26,133,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,639,089. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $174.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.44.

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.