Advisors Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.7%, now owning 517,224 shares valued at approximately $80.8 million, making it the firm's 13th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors have also heightened their positions in Alphabet, with Principia Wealth Advisory raising its stake by 111.8% in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Alphabet's stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56 per share.

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 517,224 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,760 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $80,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,494,655,000 after buying an additional 769,335 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,334,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,183,979,000 after purchasing an additional 440,526 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

GOOG traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $241.38. 14,519,054 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,624,780. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $202.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $242.57.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

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.