Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $1.02 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC acquired 6,587 shares of Alphabet Inc. valued at approximately $1,019,000 in the first quarter, indicating increased institutional interest in the company.
• Several research analysts raised their price objectives for Alphabet, with Barclays setting a new target of $235.00 and Wells Fargo adjusting their target to $187.00, reflecting positive market sentiment.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, reflecting a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,587 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,019,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $212.91. 39,702,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,138,272. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $214.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $190.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $47,225,230. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.