Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Decreased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,005,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 106,400 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Swiss National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Swiss National Bank owned 0.12% of Alphabet worth $2,508,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Alphabet by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $173.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $167.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.70. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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, DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.