Janus Henderson Group PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Janus Henderson Group PLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,352,072 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 260,585 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $634,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $159.70. 10,634,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,780,618. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $158.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.