Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $353.86 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,942,678 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 175,101 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $353,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $163.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $164.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.