Alfreton Capital LLP Has $54.12 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Alfreton Capital LLP reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 12.5%, selling 50,000 shares to hold a total of 350,000 shares, valued at approximately $54.12 million.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized payout of $0.84 and a yield of 0.4%.
• A number of analysts have recently increased their price targets for Alphabet, with KeyCorp raising its target from $215 to $230, highlighting a positive outlook on the stock.

Alfreton Capital LLP lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 350,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 17.2% of Alfreton Capital LLP's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Alfreton Capital LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 13,564 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $202.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,922,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,638,750. The company has a 50-day moving average of $182.27 and a 200-day moving average of $173.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.