Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 480,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $84,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Alphabet stock opened at $251.46 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at $598,149,304. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 210,872 shares of company stock valued at $46,980,865 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $295.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.57.

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.