Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 390,285 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,274 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $55,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in Alphabet by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 152,936 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,165,000 after acquiring an additional 18,671 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Financial Management Network Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 17,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,010 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Raymond James increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $380,389,234.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $169.83. The company had a trading volume of 15,132,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,754,559. The company has a 50 day moving average of $152.08 and a 200 day moving average of $143.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.79 and a 1-year high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

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.