Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,124,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,662 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $157,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tobam increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 14,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the period. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,695 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,802,000. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 26,643 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,722,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.64.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.40 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.19. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.63 and a 52-week high of $160.22.

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,839 shares of company stock valued at $32,835,757 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.