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

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 563,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 18,469 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.0% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $106,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,581,427,000 after buying an additional 757,138 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.03 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.