Maestria Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 69,500 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,156,000. Alphabet makes up 5.2% of Maestria Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,775 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,661,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $75,838,000. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $286,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Alphabet by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,773,748 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $714,370,000 after acquiring an additional 755,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,595 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %
Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $1.61 on Friday, reaching $149.11. The company had a trading volume of 10,572,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,410,744. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $176.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.77. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.48 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research increased 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. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.
View Our Latest Report on GOOGL
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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