City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. Sells 41,997 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 160,618 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 41,997 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the first quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 28,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,464,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Leeward Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the first quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 40,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,302,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 47,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,337,000 after buying an additional 5,986 shares during the period. Warburton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 35.0% during the first quarter. Warburton Capital Management LLC now owns 3,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $201.96 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.95 and a 200 day moving average of $173.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.01. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock worth $49,674,273. Insiders own 11.64% 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.