State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 2,555 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 740,675 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,555 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.3% of State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $112,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Veracity Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in Alphabet by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,730,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners LTD. increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.86.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,288 shares of company stock valued at $25,345,053 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $187.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.47 and a 200-day moving average of $156.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.83 and a 12 month high of $187.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.