Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Vantage Investment Partners LLC

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGFree Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 368,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,254 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 7.7% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $115,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $678,198,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $869,781,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $455,745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $376.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $343.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 226,369 shares of company stock worth $27,388,127 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.65.

Get Our Latest Report on Alphabet

About Alphabet

(Free Report)

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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