Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 22.0%, selling 324,787 shares and now owning 1,153,174 shares, representing approximately 1.8% of its overall portfolio.
• Insider trading activity revealed that Director John L. Hennessy and CEO Sundar Pichai sold shares, with Pichai selling 32,500 shares worth about $6.5 million, indicating a reduction in their holdings by 1.30% and 8.68% respectively.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the dividend yield at 0.4%, set to be paid to stockholders of record on September 8th.

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,153,174 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 324,787 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.8% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $178,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during 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 last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during 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 last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during 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 last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $199.75 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $186.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Bank of America upped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

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.

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