Vulcan Value Partners LLC Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,937,027 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,286 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 6.2% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $368,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $166,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $263,000. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 10,277 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $163.85 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $164.25 and its 200 day moving average is $177.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

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.