Coleford Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Coleford Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.0%, now holding 165,870 shares valued at approximately $25.65 million, making it the firm's fourth-largest position.
• Insider trading was noted as CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for about $5.99 million, decreasing his ownership by 1.27%, while Director John L. Hennessy also sold shares, resulting in a total of 249,409 shares sold by insiders in the past ninety days.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share to be paid on September 15th, with a current dividend yield of 0.43% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Coleford Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 165,870 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,365 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 7.2% of Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings 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 worth $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Ten investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.32.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $193.18. 39,738,342 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. The company's fifty day moving average price is $175.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, 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 $207.05.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 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 $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.