Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 19,398 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 394,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,398 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $314,000. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.0% in the first quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 17,707 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.7% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 392,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,777,000 after buying an additional 17,471 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 7.4% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 264,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,460,000 after buying an additional 18,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windward Capital Management Co. CA raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the first quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA now owns 317,199 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $32,989,000 after buying an additional 6,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $123.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, August 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $120.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $145.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total value of $1,934,945.73. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,282,738.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total value of $1,934,945.73. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,282,738.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 31,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.82, for a total transaction of $3,649,456.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,364 shares in the company, valued at $626,622.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 96,092 shares of company stock valued at $12,221,941. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $138.96 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $83.45 and a one year high of $139.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $130.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.50.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The information services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Alphabet had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $74.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current 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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.