Guinness Asset Management LTD Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Guinness Asset Management LTD lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,957 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $42,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,034,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. boosted its position in Alphabet by 178.3% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 4,003,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $619,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $278.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $251.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.19. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $291.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the sale, the director owned 18,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,116 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,778.72. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 222,396 shares of company stock worth $54,105,275. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Melius Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $343.00 target price (up previously from $280.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citic Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $236.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.10.

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.