Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.6%, selling 4,235 shares and holding a total of 59,567 shares valued at approximately $9.3 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Alphabet, with a price target averaging $215.19, reflecting ongoing optimism about the company's future growth.
• Alphabet's latest earnings report showed a 13.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,567 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,235 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,862,649 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,321,857,000 after buying an additional 279,132 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 12,172 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 59,104 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its position in Alphabet by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 4,961 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,214,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Alphabet stock traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $204.91. The stock had a trading volume of 21,099,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,037,520. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $185.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 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.