Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 81,063 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 617,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,063 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $117,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.