Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,035,110 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 39,104 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.7% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $162,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG traded down $1.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $175.88. 20,848,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,479,029. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company's 50-day moving average is $163.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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.