Light Street Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Light Street Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 60,296 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,414,000. Alphabet comprises about 2.1% of Light Street Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $152.75 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.