Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Boosted by Manitou Investment Management Ltd.

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 336,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,153 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 10.1% of Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $51,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

GOOGL stock opened at $178.60 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.