Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• The Louisiana State Employees Retirement System has reduced its stakes in Alphabet Inc. by 1.8%, owning 410,000 shares after selling 7,400 shares during the 2nd quarter.
• Insiders, including CAO Amie Thuener O'toole, have sold significant amounts of Alphabet stock, with O'toole selling 953 shares worth approximately $229,863.60.
• Alphabet's stock has been rated as a Moderate Buy by analysts, with a consensus price target of $241.00.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 410,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,400 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 953 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $237.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Lake Street Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.00.

Alphabet Company 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.

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