Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 47,329 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ninety One North America Inc. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 621,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 47,329 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.2% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,501,685 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $349,460,000 after purchasing an additional 23,454 shares in the last quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Curran Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $706,000. Peterson Wealth Services raised its position in Alphabet by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 2,856 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arista Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $156.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $147.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.63 and a 12-month high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.71.

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.