Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 6,049 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 501,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,049 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $70,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in Alphabet by 301.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $162.78 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.71 and a fifty-two week high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $148.80 and its 200-day moving average is $141.79.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 253,289 shares of company stock worth $36,724,534. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.74.

About Alphabet

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.