AQR Capital Management LLC Has $479.22 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,160,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 444,588 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.5% of AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $479,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.63.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $211.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $214.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $192.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.41. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.