Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 440,774 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,599 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of South Dakota Investment Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $62,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veracity Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in Alphabet by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $161.10 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.27 and a 12 month high of $161.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.