Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,505,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 481,635 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.1% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,042,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $273,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $161.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.18 and a 200-day moving average of $175.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet 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.