Martin Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Martin Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,426 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $831,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $328,018,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $158.88 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $179.89 and its 200-day moving average is $178.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.