ARK Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• ARK Investment Management LLC has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.9%, now owning 130,762 shares valued at approximately $20.43 million.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $2.31 EPS on revenues of $96.43 billion, a significant increase compared to the same period last year.
• The company recently announced a $0.21 quarterly dividend, with a yield of 0.43%, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,762 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,428 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allen Operations LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Allen Operations LLC now owns 157,121 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $24,547,000 after buying an additional 13,760 shares during the last quarter. Allium Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $533,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 6,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 63.9% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,371 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $54,114,000 after buying an additional 134,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,714 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

GOOG stock opened at $194.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company's 50 day moving average is $176.86 and its 200 day moving average is $174.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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