BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, holding 1,775,122 shares valued at approximately $274.5 million.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the upcoming payment date set for September 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• Institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet's shares, while the stock has seen a recent price increase and currently has a market cap of $2.51 trillion.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,775,122 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 80,099 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $274,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $207.14 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $188.07 and its 200-day moving average is $173.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $210.52.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

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.

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