AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 444,588 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 16.4%, now holding over $479 million worth of shares, representing about 0.5% of its total portfolio.
• Several research analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet shares, with notable upgrades from Wedbush and Citigroup to $225, indicating a positive outlook on the stock.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a 0.4% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for September 8th.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,160,455 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 444,588 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.5% of AQR Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $479,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital increased their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $235.00. 46,562,292 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $235.76. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.48.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.