Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Has $18.57 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) by 30.1% in the first quarter, owning 120,132 shares worth approximately $18.57 million.
• Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold over 18,000 shares at an average price of $185.76, resulting in a 7.09% decrease in their position.
• Alphabet has a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%, with a quarterly dividend of $0.21 set to be paid on September 15th.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 30.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,132 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 51,757 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,648,514 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,749,806,000 after purchasing an additional 593,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,792,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,153,481,000 after acquiring an additional 727,335 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $6.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $206.09. 42,770,206 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,218,810. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $186.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.37. 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 cap of $2.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $208.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by 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.