Arizona State Retirement System Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,462,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,668 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Arizona State Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $278,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $175.75 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.80 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $189.85 and its 200 day moving average is $177.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.