Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,274,306 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 16,592 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.7% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Alphabet were worth $433,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $166,000. Financial Avengers Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,936,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 35,066 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,863,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.59 on Monday, reaching $160.99. 8,713,485 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,379,557. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Westpark Capital started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,297 shares of company stock worth $20,804,770. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.