Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Lecap Asset Management Ltd. has acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc., purchasing 6,126 shares valued at approximately $1,087,000 during the second quarter.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, offering an annualized yield of 0.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,126 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,087,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,183,979,000 after acquiring an additional 440,526 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $246.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.15. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.33.

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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