Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 396,032 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,415 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.1% of Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $74,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after buying an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $173.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $188.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.00 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.