Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 3.2%, now holding 53,125 shares valued at approximately $8.3 million.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target for Alphabet from $200 to $232, while several analysts have given the stock a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, reflecting a 0.4% yield.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,125 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Anson Funds Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $1,562,000. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in Alphabet by 45.7% in the first quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 2,077,988 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $324,644,000 after buying an additional 652,000 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 8.3% in the first quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,793 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, ICONIQ Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.9% in the first quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,274,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $4.16 on Thursday, hitting $212.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,901,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,658,027. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $212.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.22. 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 (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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.