ABC Arbitrage SA Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA has significantly increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 473.6%, holding 21,606 shares valued at approximately $3.38 million.
• Alphabet recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations and demonstrating a 13.8% revenue increase year over year.
• Alphabet has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15th, which translates to an annual yield of 0.4%.

ABC Arbitrage SA grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 473.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,606 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,839 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maxi Investments CY Ltd raised its holdings in Alphabet by 41.3% during the first quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd now owns 46,833 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,317,000 after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 14.3% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,003 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,842 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 70.8% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares during the period. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $195.75 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $179.89 and a 200-day moving average of $174.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company'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 owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.