Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Raised by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,103,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 769,335 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.5% of UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Alphabet worth $6,494,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,189,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after acquiring an additional 294,556 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $167.87 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.94.

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.