Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,754 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,585 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.4% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $181.31. 23,949,486 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,422,256. The business's 50-day moving average price is $171.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.