California Public Employees Retirement System Has $1.48 Billion Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,367,448 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 682,107 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,480,384,000 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. DC Investments Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $114,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $225,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $206,000. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC now owns 99 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $281,000. 35.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.09, for a total value of $9,831,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,681,076.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.92, for a total transaction of $26,584.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $954,897.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.09, for a total value of $9,831,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 104,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,681,076.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,576 shares of company stock valued at $23,425,367 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Alphabet from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $146.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $136.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $133.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.88. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $84.86 and a one year high of $141.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $64.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.13 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 22.46% and a return on equity of 25.24%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.74 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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.