WPG Advisers LLC Buys New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• WPG Advisers LLC has acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc., purchasing 1,886 shares valued at approximately $295,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors made significant investments in Alphabet, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a stake valued at over $2.6 billion, and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its holdings by 18,562.3%.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15, with a 0.4% annualized yield.

WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,886 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,494,655,000 after acquiring an additional 769,335 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,827,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,870,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467,805 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $213.53. 24,667,279 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,823,590. 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 $215.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $191.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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.