Vest Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 39.9% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 85,980 shares, bringing their total to 301,539 shares valued at $53.14 million.
• Insider transactions included John Kent Walker and CEO Sundar Pichai selling shares totaling over $12.5 million, reducing their ownership percentages.
• Analyst ratings for Alphabet suggest a positive outlook, with multiple brokerages issuing "buy" ratings and price targets ranging from $259.12 to $285.00.

Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,539 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 85,980 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $53,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Financial Council LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Council LLC now owns 5,800 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Enzi Wealth lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $280.00 price target (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $259.12.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $253.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $235.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $257.33.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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 $2.15 by $0.16. 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 $93.60 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

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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