South Dakota Investment Council Sells 4,268 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• South Dakota Investment Council reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 0.9%, selling 4,268 shares in the 1st quarter, leaving it with 452,873 shares valued at approximately $70 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Alphabet, including Perritt Capital Management which raised its stake by 10.4% during the 4th quarter.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.43%, with the payout ratio currently at 8.95%.

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 452,873 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,268 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of South Dakota Investment Council's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Alphabet were worth $70,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Enzi Wealth raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was 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 $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $193.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $175.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.32.

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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