Third Point LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Third Point LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,000,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $452,790,000. Alphabet comprises about 5.8% of Third Point LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. QVR LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,968,000. Untitled Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 376.3% during the first quarter. Untitled Investments LP now owns 134,018 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,227,000 after purchasing an additional 105,883 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129,578 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,557,000 after buying an additional 26,475 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $252,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,039.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total value of $3,897,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,258,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,132,665.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $252,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,039.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,126 shares of company stock worth $17,617,549. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $170.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.74.

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.