Maven Securities LTD Buys 20,939 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Maven Securities LTD boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 167.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,436 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,939 shares during the quarter. Maven Securities LTD’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $204.29 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.19.

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.