Acadian Asset Management LLC Acquires 136,102 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 31.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 575,656 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 136,102 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $89,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the first quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $240.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.55. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $240.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 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.