Unisphere Establishment Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Unisphere Establishment lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,171,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 129,200 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.6% of Unisphere Establishment's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Unisphere Establishment's holdings in Alphabet were worth $410,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.46.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $2.50 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $161.30. The stock had a trading volume of 30,044,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,213,602. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day moving average is $160.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

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.