Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Increased by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,323,972 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 343,838 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 14.8% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $439,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $145.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.93. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.38 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.