Unison Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Unison Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Unison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 360.1% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 27.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 79,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Incline Global Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 76.6% during the first quarter. Incline Global Management LLC now owns 96,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,681,000 after acquiring an additional 41,836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $168.00 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.40 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

About Alphabet

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.