Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,732,120 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 27,213 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.7% of Arizona State Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Alphabet were worth $267,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $185.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $172.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% 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, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.68.

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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