NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Acquires 1,456 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• NorthCrest Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.6%, acquiring an additional 1,456 shares, bringing its total holdings to 57,671 shares valued at approximately $10.41 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Alphabet include reaffirmed "buy" ratings from Barclays and Goldman Sachs, with price targets ranging from $220 to $300.
• Insider trading activity included CAO Amie Thuener O'toole and CEO Sundar Pichai selling shares, contributing to a total of 258,088 shares sold worth over $52 million in the last quarter.

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,671 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,968,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $252.33 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $208.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.04. 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 $254.14. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 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.

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