State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 131,775 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,077,719 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 131,775 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.4% of State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $393,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.74.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $147.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.