Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Lowered by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,493 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 17,711 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 7,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 12.2% during the second quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 17,427 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after buying an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peninsula Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% during the second quarter. Peninsula Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,318,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,253,567.20. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,642,180.16. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 225,174 shares of company stock valued at $58,095,223. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $299.66 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $306.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $262.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. China Renaissance lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Alphabet from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.33.

Alphabet Company 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.