Cantillon Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,463,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 133,164 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.5% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $740,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 29,649 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,917,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Business Bank boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 59,475 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,833,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its position in Alphabet by 23.1% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 22,311 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,700,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the third quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 98,783 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,383,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 104,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,303,000 after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.31. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 186,124 shares of company stock worth $31,374,030 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.