Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,052,233 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $317,357,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.3% of Strs Ohio's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,962,389,000 after purchasing an additional 104,859 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Alphabet 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 owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.44.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $240.80. 26,758,216 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,407,372. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $242.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.
Alphabet Profile
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Free Report)
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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