Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Cantillon Capital Management LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,463,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 133,164 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.5% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $740,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 29,649 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,917,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Business Bank boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 59,475 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,833,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 23.1% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 22,311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% during the third quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 98,783 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 104,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,303,000 after buying an additional 3,951 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 186,124 shares of company stock valued at $31,374,030. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.