Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Reduced by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,505,957 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 481,635 shares during the period. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,053 shares of company stock valued at $25,339,647. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $161.63. The stock had a trading volume of 15,018,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,177,164. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

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.