Egerton Capital UK LLP Has $281.76 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Egerton Capital UK LLP cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 54.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,479,505 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,784,517 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.3% of Egerton Capital UK LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Egerton Capital UK LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $281,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after acquiring an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 31,701 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 37.2% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

GOOG stock opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.02. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.01 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.