Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Has $293.87 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,552,414 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,784 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 4.8% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $293,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,014,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $151.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.74.

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.