Swedbank AB Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 15.6% during Q2, now holding over 11 million shares, making Alphabet its 7th largest holding.
• Alphabet reported an earnings per share of $2.31 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and generated revenue of $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 0.3%, with a low payout ratio of 8.95% as of the most recent filing.

Swedbank AB raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 15.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,007,251 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,488,130 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.2% of Swedbank AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Swedbank AB owned 0.09% of Alphabet worth $1,952,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 9,956 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $252.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $254.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $208.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.04. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

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.

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