Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,584,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,660 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. National Pension Service’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,041,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% in the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,059 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beckerman Institutional LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Beckerman Institutional LLC now owns 22,536 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $299.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $262.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.84. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $306.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. CICC Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 225,174 shares of company stock worth $58,095,223 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.