Virtu Financial LLC Acquires 883,898 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 56.2%, acquiring an additional 883,898 shares during the first quarter, making Alphabet its largest position.
• Alphabet recently reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and had a net margin of 31.12%.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%, to be paid on September 15th.

Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 56.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,455,639 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 883,898 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 20.6% of Virtu Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $379,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the first 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. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 242,319 shares of company stock valued at $44,243,272 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $2.25 on Wednesday, hitting $199.32. 28,901,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,460,480. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $185.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.38. 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 $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

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.