Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,207 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,412 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,963,128,000 after buying an additional 979,083 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after buying an additional 684,968 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after buying an additional 636,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,327,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,103,000 after acquiring an additional 282,121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $173.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $167.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.