Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 463,028 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,923,071 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 463,028 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.3% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $937,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,224,000. Towercrest Capital Management increased its position in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Towercrest Capital Management now owns 4,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Truepoint Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% during the third quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 3,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $166.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.