Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Marathon Asset Management Ltd

Marathon Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 563,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 18,469 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.0% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $106,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners raised its position in Alphabet by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 22,388 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 8,388 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Square Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the third quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 23,403 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,881,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.70 and a 200 day moving average of $176.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.03 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.