M & L Capital Management Ltd Acquires New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

M & L Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 104,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,844,000. Alphabet accounts for 4.8% of M & L Capital Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 276,409 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,213,000 after buying an additional 14,847 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 21,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC now owns 10,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $167.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.13 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.