Markel Group Inc. Buys 2,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 557,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $39,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.32.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $192.17 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $175.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.22% and a net margin of 31.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Company 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.