Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,199,800 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 805,400 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.8% of Swiss National Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.12% of Alphabet worth $2,704,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Meridian Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 31,701 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,300,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,510 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,804,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,256 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,049,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $4.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $164.73. 15,180,371 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,103,002. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $187.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

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, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.