Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Causeway Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 17.1%, holding a total of 697,353 shares valued at approximately $108.9 million, making it the firm’s sixth largest holding.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding expectations of $2.12, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.8% to $96.43 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 697,353 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 101,796 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.3% of Causeway Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Causeway Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $108,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $9,663,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Long Island Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Five investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $208.21. 15,225,916 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,293,208. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.22. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $211.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.02. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

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.