Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 168,908 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 818,898 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 168,908 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $135,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $169.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $168.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.