Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,077,719 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 131,775 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.4% of State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Alphabet were worth $393,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 20,990.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,171,151,000 after buying an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.03.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $161.96. 55,915,519 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,549,314. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. 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.