Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares, bringing its total holdings to over 411.5 million shares.
• CEO Sundar Pichai and Director John L. Hennessy recently sold shares, with Pichai reducing his ownership by 1.25% and Hennessy by 8.09% as insiders sold a total of 216,899 shares valued at over $38 million in the last 90 days.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations with a reported EPS of $2.31 and revenue of $96.43 billion, reflecting a 13.8% increase year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Vanguard Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 3.39% of Alphabet worth $64,299,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, jvl associates llc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $197.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,292,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,208,792. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $181.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.68. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.