Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Lowered by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 228,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $185.67 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $194.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,029 shares of company stock worth $12,625,003 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.