Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Raised by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,519,005 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 94,667 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.8% of UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $237,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Greenline Partners LLC now owns 53,298 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,150,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $235.17 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $236.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.56.

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.