Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Principal Financial Group Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,486,549 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,955 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Alphabet worth $2,174,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Total Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,702 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 151,408 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,662,000 after buying an additional 43,920 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 3,392 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,309 shares of company stock worth $25,057,490 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush raised their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $170.33 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $190.58 and its 200 day moving average is $176.20. 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 one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.