2,100 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Bought by Coleford Investment Management Ltd.

Coleford Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000. Alphabet makes up about 0.1% of Coleford Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $831,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,380,605,000 after acquiring an additional 4,247,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $155.50 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.53 and a 200 day moving average of $177.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.88.

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.