Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,385,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400,007 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 5.5% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,216,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.51. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given 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 was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.