Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 473,503 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,407 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.1% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $66,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sonata Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.1% during the third quarter. Sonata Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. QCM Cayman Ltd. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $248,000. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 26,973 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,530,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 51,571 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,749,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $174.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.70. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $178.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic boosted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.57.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock valued at $31,178,987. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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