Intermede Investment Partners Ltd Sells 429,991 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Intermede Investment Partners Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 26.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,211,713 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 429,991 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 6.2% of Intermede Investment Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $230,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 31,701 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.01 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.