Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 978,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,171 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Czech National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $163,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after buying an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 178,253.1% in the 1st quarter. Vima LLC now owns 2,001,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $304,691,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.75.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $167.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $121.46 and a 12 month high of $193.31. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

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.