Erste Asset Management GmbH Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.6% in Q1, owning 425,522 shares now valued at $66.43 million.
• Alphabet recently reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $2.31, surpassing estimates, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.8% to $96.43 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%, to be paid on September 15th.

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 425,522 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,788 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Erste Asset Management GmbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $202.49 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. 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 $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. 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%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 242,319 shares of company stock valued at $44,243,272. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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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