Picton Mahoney Asset Management Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,876 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,287 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $165.06 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05. 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:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

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.