Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Vanguard Group Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,733,278 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.27% of Alphabet worth $91,033,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,857,017,000 after buying an additional 4,224,497 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 11.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,153,481,000 after purchasing an additional 727,335 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 38,556,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,962,389,000 after purchasing an additional 104,859 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 225,072 shares of company stock worth $58,074,027. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $320.02 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $328.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. President Capital upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.84.

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.