Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) by 0.8%, owning 2,646,461 shares valued at approximately $413 million, making it the firm's 6th largest holding.
• Additionally, Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, set to be paid on September 15th, reflecting a modest yield of 0.4% with a payout ratio of 8.95%.
• Alphabet's most recent earnings report showed a record revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, surpassing expectations, with earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analyst predictions.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,646,461 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,806 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $413,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $234.16. 22,702,435 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,040,084. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $238.40. 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 $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $196.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.