Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s 3rd Largest Position

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 33.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 641,053 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 325,020 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.6% of Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $184,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google’s AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind’s biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $354.30 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $355.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $340.41. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.60 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $419.86.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.