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

Utah Retirement Systems boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 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 quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Soros Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 157.1% during the fourth quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 1,331,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $252,030,000 after buying an additional 813,491 shares during the last quarter. 11 Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $8,500,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 238,480 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $45,144,000 after purchasing an additional 11,969 shares during the last quarter. Untitled Investments LP increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Untitled Investments LP now owns 145,018 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $27,452,000 after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its holdings in Alphabet by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 7,014 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,328,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.46.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

GOOGL stock traded up $2.73 on Friday, hitting $164.03. 25,689,744 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,219,284. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.35. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.