Titleist Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.3% during the first quarter, owning 28,110 shares worth approximately $4.39 million.
• Alphabet's latest quarterly earnings report showed a profit of $2.31 EPS, surpassing estimates, and a revenue of $96.43 billion, marking a 13.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.95% and a yield of 0.4%.

Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,110 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,088 shares during the quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,494,655,000 after purchasing an additional 769,335 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,827,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,870,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467,805 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $47,225,230 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $211.91. The company had a trading volume of 17,114,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,611,908. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $215.34.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.