Unigestion Holding SA Has $8.62 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Unigestion Holding SA reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 37.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,735 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 33,764 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Kure Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $205,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.2% during the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Selway Asset Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Selway Asset Management now owns 58,649 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $169.03 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.53. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for 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 posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 163,270 shares of company stock worth $26,553,563. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.