National Pension Service Sells 271,321 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,632,216 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 271,321 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.7% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned 0.08% of Alphabet worth $1,834,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. M&G PLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,309 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,490. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $172.22 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.