Belmont Capital LLC Acquires 5,619 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Belmont Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 88.1%, owning a total of 12,000 shares valued at approximately $1.875 million after purchasing an additional 5,619 shares.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their positions in Alphabet during the first quarter, with Nuveen LLC investing around $2.62 billion and GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its holdings by 18,562.3%.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, representing an annual yield of 0.4%.

Belmont Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 88.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,619 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.3% of Belmont Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $786,942,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.51 on Friday, hitting $235.17. The stock had a trading volume of 26,091,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $236.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.65 and a 200-day moving average of $176.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.