Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Reduced by Mayar Capital Ltd.

Mayar Capital Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 52.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,130 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 36,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 9.2% of Mayar Capital Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Mayar Capital Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 182,943 shares of company stock valued at $31,223,348. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $184.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,549,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,456,920. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $172.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.74. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.