Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,011,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 33,632 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $192,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $166.28 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.52 and a 200 day moving average of $178.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.67 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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