Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,589,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 377,083 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $658,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,508,000 after acquiring an additional 8,201 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its position in Alphabet by 93.6% in the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 202,667 shares of company stock worth $33,964,256. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

GOOG opened at $164.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $166.26 and its 200-day moving average is $166.79. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $121.46 and a one year high of $193.31.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Alphabet 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.