Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 250,420 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,368 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after acquiring an additional 294,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $181.31 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $171.50 and a 200 day moving average of $174.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $207.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,443 shares of company stock valued at $36,298,548. Insiders own 12.99% 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.

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