Makena Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Makena Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 51.6% during the first quarter, now owning 159,988 shares valued at approximately $24.7 million.
• Several hedge funds have shown increased interest in Alphabet, with Guardian Wealth Management boosting its stake by 242.9% in the same period.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings of $2.31 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th.

Makena Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 51.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,988 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 54,422 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.5% of Makena Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Makena Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $199.75 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $186.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.37. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.