Sarasin & Partners LLP Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Sarasin & Partners LLP lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,694 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $249.85 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $253.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.56.

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.