West Branch Capital LLC Has $15.55 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• West Branch Capital LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.7% in Q2, now holding 88,227 shares worth approximately $15.55 million, which is about 4.6% of its total portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and UBS, have increased their stakes in Alphabet, reflecting strong interest in the stock, with 40% of shares owned by institutional investors.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report beat estimates with an EPS of $2.31, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, representing an annual yield of 0.3%.

West Branch Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,227 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,515 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 4.6% of West Branch Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. West Branch Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,749,806,000 after acquiring an additional 593,345 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,153,481,000 after acquiring an additional 727,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,389,000 after acquiring an additional 104,859 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,285 shares of company stock worth $50,994,787. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $244.90 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company's fifty day moving average price is $219.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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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