Picton Mahoney Asset Management Acquires 96,883 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management significantly increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 77.6% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 96,883 shares and bringing its total holdings to 221,759 shares.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly earnings, with revenue of $96.43 billion and an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, surpassing analyst estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%, which will be payable on September 15th.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 77.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,759 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 96,883 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.6% of Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Alphabet stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $196.52. 26,014,319 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,916,484. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $179.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.12. 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 $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

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.