Invesco Ltd. Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.2%, acquiring an additional 440,526 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $3.18 billion.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion and earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 0.4% and a low dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 440,526 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.6% of Invesco Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.17% of Alphabet worth $3,183,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $4.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $202.11. 24,354,150 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,707,132. 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 company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business's fifty day moving average price is $181.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.52.

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 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.