Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 155,478 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 17.5%, selling 155,478 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 734,684 shares valued at approximately $114.78 million.
• Insider trading activity included Alphabet's Director John L. Hennessy and CEO Sundar Pichai selling shares, leading to a substantial decrease in their respective holdings.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with the payment set for September 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 734,684 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 155,478 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Alphabet were worth $114,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $7,027,000. Finally, Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 85,996 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,377,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total transaction of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $202.11 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.19.

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.

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