New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 6,600 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,380 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $207.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock valued at $36,330,928. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $2.50 on Wednesday, reaching $177.66. 31,251,906 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,297,245. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average price is $170.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

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.