Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Lowered by MWA Asset Management

MWA Asset Management lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,987 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 491 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.4% of MWA Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 360.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after buying an additional 15,848 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,100,000 after acquiring an additional 13,756 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 41.0% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,530 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 4,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $179.58 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.40 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $168.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

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.