Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,436,271 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 54,788 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.3% of Employees Retirement System of Texas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Alphabet were worth $273,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $172.61. 13,161,908 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,149,895. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $160.86 and a 200 day moving average of $176.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last 90 days. 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.