Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 75,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,421 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $341.91 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.70 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $363.69 and a 200-day moving average of $337.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $6.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp set a $445.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $383.44.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, driven by strong search, ads, and especially Google Cloud growth. S&P 500, Nasdaq close lower ahead of technology earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud growth accelerated sharply on AI demand, reinforcing the case that Alphabet’s AI investments are translating into revenue. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue rose 13%, adding another sign that Alphabet’s core advertising business remains resilient. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Google said Gemini has reached 950 million monthly active users, suggesting improving traction in consumer AI. Google’s Gemini app nips at ChatGPT’s heels as it nears 1 billion users

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.