Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 594,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 26,017 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $113,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 140.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Alphabet by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,184,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,039,000 after acquiring an additional 704,875 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $153.36 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.88.

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.