State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,725 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,364,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,725 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $470,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after buying an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4,894.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,606,670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,336,359 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $407,367,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.97 and a 52 week high of $174.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $149.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.