Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,303,451 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 340,847 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,015,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

GOOG opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.27 and a 12 month high of $161.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $146.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.51.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 228,839 shares of company stock valued at $32,835,757. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.