Stephens Inc. AR Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, retaining 336,577 shares now valued at approximately $59.7 million.
• Prominent investors including Kingstone Capital Partners and Vanguard Group made significant investments in Alphabet, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Recent analyst ratings show a positive outlook for Alphabet, with Raymond James reissuing an "outperform" rating and setting a price target of $210, now at an average target price of $246.26.

Stephens Inc. AR cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 336,577 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,352 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.8% of Stephens Inc. AR's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $369,713,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $246.26.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $252.53 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average is $235.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $257.88.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.