Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Night Owl Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Night Owl Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 3.3%, acquiring an additional 11,476 shares, bringing its total holdings to 357,293 shares worth approximately $55.8 million.
• Over 27% of Alphabet's stock is currently owned by institutional investors, with significant investments from firms like Nuveen LLC and Vanguard Group Inc. enhancing their positions in the first quarter.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings beat analyst expectations, reporting earnings of $2.31 per share on revenue of $96.43 billion, reflecting a 13.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Night Owl Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357,293 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,476 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 7.0% of Night Owl Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Night Owl Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $55,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,445,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 75,402 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $14,360,000 after buying an additional 2,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 7,319 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $2.51 on Friday, hitting $235.17. The company had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $236.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $196.65 and a 200 day moving average of $176.82. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.