Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 184.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 843,591 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 547,104 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.5% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Alphabet were worth $131,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Auxano Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 8,823 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,680,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. 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 six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.38.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.46 on Friday, reaching $180.22. 13,287,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,182,530. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $169.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for 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%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.