Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Sells 16,592 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,274,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 16,592 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $433,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $166,000. Financial Avengers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $14,936,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 35,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,863,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.8% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $161.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $172.41 and its 200 day moving average is $177.97. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.33.

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.