Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Provident Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.3% in Q1, bringing its total holdings to $62.95 million, accounting for 5.9% of its investment portfolio.
• Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.12, with revenue reaching $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an ex-dividend date on September 8th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Provident Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 402,958 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.9% of Provident Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Provident Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $62,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wharton Business Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Wharton Business Group LLC now owns 3,690 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 8,438 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,318,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Tidemark LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 25,146 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,929,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $197.28. The stock had a trading volume of 14,292,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,208,792. The firm's 50 day moving average is $181.28 and its 200-day moving average is $174.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.