Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock Holdings Reduced by New York State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• The New York State Teachers Retirement System has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 0.2%, now holding approximately 4 million shares, which represent 1.5% of its portfolio.
• Multiple analysts, including HSBC Global Research and Morgan Stanley, have upgraded their rating for Alphabet, reflecting growing confidence and increasing target prices for the stock.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, resulting in a yield of 0.3%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,004,720 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,099 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.5% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. New York State Teachers Retirement System's holdings in Alphabet were worth $710,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its position in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.68.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $253.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $257.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $232.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.97. The company has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total transaction of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,242,778.72. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,372 shares of company stock valued at $55,110,740 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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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