Aviva PLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Aviva PLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,588,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 289,121 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.8% of Aviva PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $683,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 291.5% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 6,229 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $3,538,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $293,454,000. ROI Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 92,174 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,554,000 after buying an additional 2,604 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $147.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.54 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.