Maestria Partners LLC Invests $9.33 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maestria Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 49,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,332,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.7% of Maestria Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $166.28 on Thursday. 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 $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $147.67 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $185.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

About Alphabet

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.