Anson Funds Management LP Takes $1.56 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Anson Funds Management LP has acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc., buying 10,000 shares valued at approximately $1.56 million.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $2.31 per share on revenues of $96.43 billion, with a significant net margin of 31.12%.
• The company recently announced a dividend of $0.21 per share, marking a yield of 0.4%, with the next payment scheduled for September 15th.

Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,562,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 45.7% during 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. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $220,000. ICONIQ Capital LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 11.9% in the first quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broadleaf Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Broadleaf Partners LLC now owns 103,840 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,223,000 after acquiring an additional 16,469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $206.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $187.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $209.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on GOOG. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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