Kentucky Retirement Systems Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 402,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,546 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.2% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $76,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

GOOGL opened at $173.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.06 and a 200-day moving average of $176.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.