Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,410,931 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 613,345 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.1% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Alphabet worth $1,982,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,609 shares of company stock valued at $21,809,990 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock traded down $5.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.58. 19,447,412 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,667,480. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.08. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Company 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.