Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 397,758 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Rating) by 1,879.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 418,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 397,758 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 3.3% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1,666.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 22,048 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2,734.4% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 21,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after acquiring an additional 20,426 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,848.3% during the 3rd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 455,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,792,000 after acquiring an additional 432,083 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,922.1% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 801,147 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $82,494,000 after acquiring an additional 761,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,976.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 74,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,121,000 after acquiring an additional 70,495 shares in the last quarter. 28.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $99.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.52 and a 200-day moving average of $102.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.47. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $83.45 and a one year high of $152.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The information services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $69.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 23.75% and a return on equity of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Credit Suisse Group set a $128.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. UBS Group set a $115.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $143.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. Cowen cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, Cowen cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.85, for a total value of $77,676.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,694 shares in the company, valued at $2,243,449.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 22,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $1,992,719.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,579 shares in the company, valued at $6,872,965.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.85, for a total transaction of $77,676.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,243,449.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 1,461,702 shares of company stock worth $36,999,217 and sold 190,744 shares worth $8,564,640. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Profile

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Alphabet Inc provides 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 offers products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.