Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Murchinson Ltd.

Key Points

• Murchinson Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 400% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 50,000 shares valued at approximately $7.8 million.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings of $2.31 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenue of $96.43 billion, which was a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• Alphabet has also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95%, to be paid on September 15th to shareholders of record on September 8th.

Murchinson Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 400.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.4% of Murchinson Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Murchinson Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 890,033 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $139,050,000 after buying an additional 47,266 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 603,261 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $94,247,000 after buying an additional 35,502 shares in the last quarter. Night Owl Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Night Owl Capital Management LLC now owns 357,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $55,820,000 after buying an additional 11,476 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,947,263 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $304,219,000 after buying an additional 128,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 190,985 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,838,000 after buying an additional 14,617 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $235.17 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $236.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The business's fifty day moving average is $196.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% 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 worth $49,208,380 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

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