Kazazian Asset Management LLC Acquires 25,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kazazian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 30.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,392 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 13.6% of Kazazian Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Kazazian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $189.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $179.37 and a 200-day moving average of $174.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.