United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 436 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 436 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 61,587.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,539,004,000 after acquiring an additional 129,835,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,807.4% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,069,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,487,226,000 after purchasing an additional 54,077,519 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $3,059,614,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Alphabet by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,368,961,000 after purchasing an additional 19,612,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $157.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.27 and a twelve month high of $161.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $147.35 and a 200 day moving average of $141.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.