Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,621,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 165,330 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.7% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. National Pension Service’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,215,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,060 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,800,413 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,058,842,000 after acquiring an additional 481,376 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,744,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,658,122,000 after acquiring an additional 92,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total transaction of $119,784.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,164 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,665.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total value of $119,784.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,665.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,629 shares of company stock valued at $37,091,240. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock traded down $1.82 on Wednesday, hitting $171.16. 13,649,296 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,634,053. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.72 and a 1-year high of $176.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $152.74 and a 200-day moving average of $144.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

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.