Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 580,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,251 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $109,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock worth $18,192,354. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.13 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

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.