Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Sovran Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sovran Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 32% during Q2, acquiring an additional 4,359 shares to bring its total holdings to 17,978 shares valued at approximately $3.14 million.
• Alphabet's stock opened at $254.72 with impressive performance metrics, including a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion and a P/E ratio of 27.13.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, representing a 0.3% yield, contributing to a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Sovran Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 32.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,978 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,359 shares during the quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,637,000 after buying an additional 13,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.54.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $254.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,452,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,316,584. 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 fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $209.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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%.

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.