Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $55.18 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 311,067 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,385 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $55,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $310.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $328.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $283.75 and its 200-day moving average is $230.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 225,528 shares of company stock valued at $61,296,884 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank set a $336.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $313.04.

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.