Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 41,660 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.4%, now owning approximately 10.17 million shares valued at $1.57 billion as of its latest SEC filing.
• Alphabet recently reported a quarterly earnings of $2.31 EPS, exceeding analyst estimates, and achieved revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with the payout scheduled for September 15th, reflecting a 0.4% yield.

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,171,021 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 41,660 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.08% of Alphabet worth $1,572,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 16.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,160,455 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $479,220,000 after acquiring an additional 444,588 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.8% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 596,896 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $92,304,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares in the last quarter. Alexis Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.4% in the first quarter. Alexis Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,367 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,944,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Alphabet by 11.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,034,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,562,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $235.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.48.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $240.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Westpark Capital upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.33.

Alphabet 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.