Northern Trust Corp Has $10.52 Billion Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.3%, owning approximately $10.52 billion worth of shares, making it the firm's 6th largest position.
• In Q4, several institutional investors, including Eagle Capital Management and Hudson Value Partners, increased their holdings in Alphabet, indicating growing confidence in the company.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield for shareholders.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,019,033 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,597,821 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Northern Trust Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.56% of Alphabet worth $10,518,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,873,000 after buying an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $206.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.81 and a 200 day moving average of $173.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $208.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

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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