Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Cut by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,126,386 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,846 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings in Alphabet were worth $644,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after acquiring an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $193.23. The company had a trading volume of 41,227,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,191,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $175.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

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.