Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Buys 400,007 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,385,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 400,007 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 5.5% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Alphabet worth $1,216,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 161,558 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443 shares in the last quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,607,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $496,584,000 after buying an additional 302,288 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 21,063 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,011,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,277,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $156.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.56.

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.