Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Acquires 60,794 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 59.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,446 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 60,794 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.9% of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $273,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,824 shares of company stock worth $25,086,603 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6 %

Alphabet stock traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $165.02. The company had a trading volume of 8,624,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,116,772. The business has a fifty day moving average of $160.19 and a 200 day moving average of $175.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.46.

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.