Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Cut by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 465,022 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.4% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $64,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,336,359 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $407,367,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.71 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $149.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total value of $119,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,665.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.