Maple Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 400,873 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,531 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 5.6% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $76,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.