Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 127,823 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sarasin & Partners LLP trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,562,529 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 127,823 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.2% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $396,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,716,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $175.70. The stock had a trading volume of 20,879,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,364,105. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $161.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,570,192.16. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet 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.