Marathon Asset Management Ltd Sells 44,070 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 519,800 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 44,070 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.5% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $80,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.08 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.36 and a 200-day moving average of $174.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.