Ardevora Asset Management LLP Sells 161,762 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 161,762 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.0% of Ardevora Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Ardevora Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in Alphabet by 301.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 253,209 shares of company stock valued at $36,711,144. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.71 and a 52 week high of $174.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.36 and its 200-day moving average is $141.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

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.