Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Purchases 4,161 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 235,715 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,161 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.6% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $36,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

GOOG traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $185.94. 20,915,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,558,739. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Lake Street Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.40.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,843 shares of company stock valued at $37,288,490 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.