Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 315,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,292 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.7% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,852,868,000 after buying an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 198.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Alphabet by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $647,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,950 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

GOOG opened at $161.10 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.40. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $103.27 and a one year high of $161.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.