Anchor Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,635 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.8%, now holding 90,936 shares valued at approximately $14.2 million, making it the firm's 15th biggest holding.
• A variety of hedge funds have also boosted their investments in Alphabet, with notable increases including a 150.4% stake increase from SCS Capital Management LLC.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with a reported $2.31 EPS, contributing to a notable year-over-year revenue increase of 13.8%.

Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,936 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.3% of Anchor Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Anchor Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 23,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,275,000. Finally, NDVR Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 5,247 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $241.38. 14,519,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,624,780. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $242.57. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $202.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.86.

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 research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.