Wesbanco Bank Inc. Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 409,745 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,608 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.1% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 79,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 5,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $240.80 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $201.89 and a 200 day moving average of $177.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $242.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.44.

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.