Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,266,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,375,509,000. Alphabet comprises 2.7% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $168.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $158.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

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.