Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 59,347 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 435,815 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 59,347 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $82,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $198.37 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $202.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.38. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.67.

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.