China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,258 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,328 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.6% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. State Street Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after acquiring an additional 523,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $185.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.61 and its 200-day moving average is $174.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.