AQR Capital Management LLC Has $516.15 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 13.2%, acquiring an additional 384,312 shares, bringing its total holdings to 3,303,750 shares valued at approximately $516.1 million.
• Alphabet has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid to shareholders of record on September 8th, 2023.
• Analyst ratings for Alphabet remain predominantly positive, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $220.19.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,303,750 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 384,312 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.5% of AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $516,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% 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, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $235.17. The company had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $236.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $196.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.21 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Five 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet 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.