Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 13.2%, selling 55,295 shares during the second quarter, bringing their total holdings to 364,587 shares valued at approximately $64.25 million.
• Insider selling was noted, with CAO Amie Thuener O'toole and insider John Kent Walker selling shares and reducing their positions by 5.22% and 29.30% respectively over the past month.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting $2.31 earnings per share on revenues of $96.43 billion, while the stock is currently rated as a Moderate Buy by analysts.

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 364,587 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 55,295 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.8% of Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $64,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 307.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,302,644 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,593,201,000 after acquiring an additional 7,774,811 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,034,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537,173 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 953 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $241.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.62.

Alphabet Company 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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