GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Has $721.72 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,166,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 97,928 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 9.3% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $721,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after buying an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,606,670,000 after purchasing an additional 5,336,359 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $407,367,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $177.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.35 and a 1 year high of $178.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 205,935 shares of company stock valued at $31,178,987. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.