PGGM Investments Sells 15,669 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

PGGM Investments lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 793,264 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,669 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.0% of PGGM Investments’ portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $150,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $167.68 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $182.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 1-year low of $147.22 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

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.