Franchise Capital Ltd Has $6.82 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Franchise Capital Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 51.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 43,598 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.5% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 15,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,894 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd now owns 704,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $99,276,000 after purchasing an additional 239,840 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 241.6% in the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 16,788 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,366,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $68,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $167.21 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.46 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $163.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.