Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,906,111 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 234,344 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 3.7% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $347,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,178,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,310,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,261 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $165.86 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $162.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.