Baillie Gifford & Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 818,898 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 168,908 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $135,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after buying an additional 1,949,476 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Alphabet stock opened at $169.12 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.