Manhattan West Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,328 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 76.8%, totaling 3,058 shares valued at approximately $478,000 as per their latest SEC filing.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting an EPS of $2.31 and revenues of $96.43 billion, marking a 13.8% year-over-year growth.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 76.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,058 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.4%

Alphabet stock traded up $4.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $202.11. The company had a trading volume of 24,354,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,707,132. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

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.