State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 183,332 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 8.5%, selling 183,332 shares and now owns a total of 1,966,311 shares.
• Insider trading was notable, with Director John L. Hennessy selling 600 shares and CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares recently.
• Alphabet's stock has seen a 1.1% decrease with a current market cap of $2.41 trillion and expects to report 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,966,311 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 183,332 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.4% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Alphabet were worth $304,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $489,572,657.16. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,219 shares of company stock worth $40,725,772 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $199.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock's fifty day moving average is $185.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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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