Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,028 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $206,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 227,850 shares of company stock valued at $58,874,814 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $320.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.44. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $328.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $304.62.

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.