Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 262,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,253 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4,715.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 25,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,305,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,356 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,735,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belmont Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Belmont Capital LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,538,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $162.67 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.01 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.