National Pension Service Has $2.11 Billion Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,156,601 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 125,806 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.0% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.09% of Alphabet worth $2,111,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $164.04 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.03 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.55. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.