Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,652 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 99,184 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 51,749 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,583,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 76,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after acquiring an additional 28,423 shares during the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,898 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.1% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,536 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastwise Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 22,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,707,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $189.82 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.68 and a twelve month high of $195.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.