Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,317,884 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 496,272 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $631,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $186.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.22 and its 200-day moving average is $177.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,609 shares of company stock valued at $21,809,990. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

About Alphabet

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.