Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Maxi Investments CY Ltd

Key Points

• Maxi Investments CY Ltd has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 41.3%, owning 46,833 shares valued at approximately $7.3 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Capital International Investors and Northern Trust Corp, have significantly increased their holdings in Alphabet during the last quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, scheduled to be paid on September 15th, which represents an annual dividend yield of 0.4%.

Maxi Investments CY Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 41.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,833 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of Maxi Investments CY Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Maxi Investments CY Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,380,605,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $786,942,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $196.92. The company had a trading volume of 15,353,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,004,010. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $180.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

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.