South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,887 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of South Dakota Investment Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $74,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. World Equity Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 8,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,357 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,400,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 122,474 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Partners bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $240,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Pivotal Research raised 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. Finally, Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $174.70 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $192.98 and its 200-day moving average is $177.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

About Alphabet

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.