Ashburton Jersey Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,862 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,726 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 7.6% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Ashburton Jersey Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. LGT Group Foundation grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 356,027 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $50,299,000 after buying an additional 17,356 shares during the last quarter. JFG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $350,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,036 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 57,562 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,112,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seaview Investment Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $319,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.99. 22,759,343 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,843,182. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.99 and a 200 day moving average of $143.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.70 and a twelve month high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GOOG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.67.

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.