State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 19,441 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,846,671 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,441 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Alphabet were worth $351,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ GOOG traded down $5.06 on Friday, hitting $181.58. 19,447,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,667,480. The company's 50-day moving average price is $194.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.08. 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 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,609 shares of company stock valued at $21,809,990 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.