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

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,514,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $288,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Alphabet by 182.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $422,331,000 after buying an additional 1,630,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.95 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.91.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.