Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,530,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,929 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.5% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $185,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Totem Point Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Totem Point Management LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Somerville Kurt F boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in the first quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 118 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,564,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 53.2% during the first quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 144 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 3,370 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,412,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.13% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $138.18. 6,080,231 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,820,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.70. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.57 and a fifty-two week high of $142.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.10. Alphabet had a return on equity of 25.24% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $64.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.13 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.92, for a total transaction of $26,584.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,184 shares in the company, valued at $954,897.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 3,749 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.28, for a total value of $510,913.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,407.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.92, for a total transaction of $26,584.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $954,897.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 176,576 shares of company stock valued at $23,425,367. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alphabet from $123.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wedbush assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.69.

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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.