Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Raised by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 473,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,407 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.1% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sonata Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sonata Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. QCM Cayman Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000. CFO4Life Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 26,973 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the third quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 51,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,749,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $174.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.35 and a twelve month high of $178.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total value of $41,853.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at $1,296,187.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.57.

Alphabet 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.