Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Utah Retirement Systems

Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 974,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.0% of Utah Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $184,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $160.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.89.

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.