Kiltearn Partners LLP Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Kiltearn Partners LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of Kiltearn Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Kiltearn Partners LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 205,835 shares of company stock valued at $32,177,952 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $175.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $115.35 and a one year high of $178.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $164.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

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.