HTLF Bank Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

HTLF Bank trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,333 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,518 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.7% of HTLF Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. HTLF Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39,754.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $841,725,000 after purchasing an additional 6,010,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,288,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170,229 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 156,565 shares of company stock worth $26,823,893. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $161.78 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 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, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Alphabet Company 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.