Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 10,016 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 314,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,016 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.7% of Securian Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its position in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $167.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.