Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Troy Asset Management Ltd’s Largest Position

Troy Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,090,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 763,225 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 14.8% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $544,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Trust lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 18.2% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 24,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $135,000. Lavaca Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 6,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Midwestern Financial LLC IA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $217,000. Finally, Tribridge Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $266,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

GOOGL opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $328.83. The company has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $284.30 and a 200 day moving average of $230.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,264,750.96. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $725,942,020.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 222,750 shares of company stock valued at $60,496,098. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.22.

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.