Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,229,939 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 901,789 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.05% of Alphabet worth $1,186,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.88.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4 %

GOOG stock traded down $2.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.36. The company had a trading volume of 19,461,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,427,163. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.16 and a 200 day moving average of $177.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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.