Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.7% in Q2, bringing its total shares to 98,349, valued at approximately $17.4 million.
• Insider John Kent Walker completed a sale of 23,820 shares of Alphabet on August 4th, representing a 35.65% decrease in his position, while another director also sold shares, indicating notable insider activity.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a 0.3% yield and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,349 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,140 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RDA Financial Network increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 3,626,927 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $643,381,000 after purchasing an additional 15,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 214,392 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $38,031,000 after purchasing an additional 115,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $245.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $225.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.68.

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.

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