Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Sells 583,338 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 590,086 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 583,338 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.7% of Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $111,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $159.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $158.38 and a 200-day moving average of $175.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

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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