State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $470.06 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,364,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,725 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $470,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.3% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 34,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,357 shares during the last quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the third quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 18,911 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. AMS Capital Ltda grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 54.3% during the third quarter. AMS Capital Ltda now owns 80,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,542,000 after acquiring an additional 28,348 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 47.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,036,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $135,697,000 after purchasing an additional 333,670 shares during the period. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.0% in the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.97 and a fifty-two week high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $149.67 and its 200-day moving average is $142.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.