Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,264 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,604 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.1% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $310.52 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $328.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $283.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.73. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank set a $336.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $313.04.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,750,916.64. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 225,528 shares of company stock valued at $61,296,884 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.