Troy Asset Management Ltd Has $544.68 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Troy Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 32.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,090,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 763,225 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 14.8% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $544,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,857,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224,497 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,944,208,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,151,820 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,780,875,000 after purchasing an additional 503,306 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $328.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $284.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.22.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,272,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $302,418.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,721,580. This trade represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 222,750 shares of company stock valued at $60,496,098. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.