Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $67.55 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 368,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,434 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $48,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 202,667 shares of company stock worth $33,964,256 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $160.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.46 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $167.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.86.

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.