Plancorp LLC Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 36.6% in the first quarter, owning 15,391 shares valued at $2,405,000 after adding 4,123 shares during the period.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share, exceeding expectations of $2.12, alongside revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized dividend of $0.84 with a yield of 0.4%.

Plancorp LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 36.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,391 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,123 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 369,582 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $70,383,000 after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $699,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

GOOG stock opened at $235.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $196.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.89. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $236.13.

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. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

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.

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