Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $3.19 Billion Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,110,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,698 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.7% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Alphabet worth $3,194,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 3,634 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 21,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,072,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. First Growth Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. First Growth Capital LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.5% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 83,884 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.8% during the first quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,507 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $342.09 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.82 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $366.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $6.47. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $438.00 target price (up from $416.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $414.54.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates by a wide margin, signaling strong underlying business momentum. Alphabet (GOOGL) Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s 82% growth suggests Alphabet’s AI spending is translating into faster cloud demand and improving monetization. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue growth and strength across search and advertising add evidence that core businesses are still healthy. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion, Helping To Drive Strong Report By Parent Alphabet

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.