Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 465,022 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,000 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $64,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after acquiring an additional 4,664 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 15,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.86 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.71 and a 12 month high of $174.71. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

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.