Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by MSA Advisors LLC

Key Points

• MSA Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 7.0% in the first quarter, now holding a total of 87,865 shares valued at approximately $13.7 million.
• Insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares at an average price of $194.70, decreasing his holdings by 35.65%, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share.
• Alphabet's stock is currently valued at $202.11 with a 1-year high of $208.70 and a P/E ratio of 21.52, reflecting a robust market capitalization of $2.44 trillion.

MSA Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,865 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,750 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 3.5% of MSA Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. MSA Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3%

GOOG traded up $2.53 on Tuesday, reaching $204.16. 19,846,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,088,352. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $182.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.34. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 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.