City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. Sells 41,997 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 20.7%, selling 41,997 shares and leaving it with 160,618 shares which now comprise 2.7% of its investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Alphabet, with Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosting its holdings by 242.9% during the same quarter.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160,618 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 41,997 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.7% of City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Enzi Wealth lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital increased their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.90. 34,891,841 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,675,102. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $183.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.30. 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 one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. 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 dividend payout ratio 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.