Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 21,381 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,615,487 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 21,381 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Alphabet were worth $252,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8%

Alphabet stock opened at $173.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $166.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.43. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for 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 firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet 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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