Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 255,788 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,863 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.4% of Securian Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 31,701 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,804,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. 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:GOOG) last announced 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.