Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $3.73 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 49.0%, holding shares worth approximately $3.73 million after acquiring an additional 7,856 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet, while CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares, indicating a decrease in their respective ownership stakes.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings report revealed earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing analyst expectations and reflecting a 13.8% revenue increase year-over-year.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 49.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,889 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,856 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, jvl associates llc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's 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 owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $204.91 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $185.21 and its 200-day moving average is $174.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

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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