Quilter Plc Sells 73,735 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Quilter Plc decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,022,373 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 73,735 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.8% of Quilter Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Quilter Plc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $193,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Denver PWM LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $4.90 on Friday, reaching $179.66. 35,094,289 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,166,218. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. Corporate 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.