Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s 8th Largest Position

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 142,207 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 15,412 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Alphabet by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500,621 shares during the last quarter. Vima LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 178,253.1% during the 1st quarter. Vima LLC now owns 2,001,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6,610.0% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,769,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $301,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $173.89 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.65.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.