Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Baupost Group LLC MA

Key Points

• Baupost Group LLC MA increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 45.7%, now owning over 2 million shares valued at approximately $324.6 million, making it the firm's second-largest position.
• Alphabet recently reported a 13.8% year-over-year revenue increase, totaling $96.43 billion for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and earning an EPS of $2.31.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 0.4%, to be paid on September 15, highlighting its commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Baupost Group LLC MA increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 45.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,077,988 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 652,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 9.3% of Baupost Group LLC MA's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Baupost Group LLC MA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $324,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $9,663,000. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 30,444 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,798,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 119,435 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,745,000 after buying an additional 2,659 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $206.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $209.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's fifty day moving average is $187.71 and its 200 day moving average is $174.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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