Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Holdings Cut by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 417,400 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Alphabet were worth $65,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $181.94. 9,452,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,404,242. The business's 50 day moving average is $171.50 and its 200-day moving average is $174.76. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $207.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 215,443 shares of company stock valued at $36,298,548. Corporate insiders own 12.99% 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.