Vanderbilt University Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Vanderbilt University grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 65.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,369 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,784 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.5% of Vanderbilt University's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Vanderbilt University's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Means Investment CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 20,672 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV now owns 32,195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,979,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 44,461 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV grew its position in Alphabet by 4.7% in the first quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 27,688 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curran Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 8.2% in the first quarter. Curran Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,864 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.9%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $166.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $164.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Alphabet 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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