Vest Financial LLC Has $8.74 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 40.9%, acquiring an additional 14,291 shares, bringing its total to 49,269 shares valued at approximately $8.74 million.
• Insiders have been selling shares, with Director Frances Arnold and CAO Amie Thuener O'toole selling a combined total of 1,056 shares worth over $254,000 in recent transactions.
• Alphabet's most recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations, and the company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% year-over-year.

Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 40.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,269 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,291 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 953 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,171,312.80. This represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,872 shares of company stock valued at $46,980,865 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $251.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $257.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $231.15 and its 200-day moving average is $192.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.68.

About Alphabet

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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