State of Michigan Retirement System Has $451.31 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,573,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.4% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $451,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $383.44.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Wedbush remain bullish, with both highlighting strong cloud growth, AI monetization potential, and upside to the stock ahead of earnings. Alphabet could crush estimates on Cloud strength, Anthropic windfall: BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors are still pointing to accelerating Google Search and Google Cloud growth, while retail interest and institutional ownership remain strong ahead of the July 22 report.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses remain central to the bullish thesis, with multiple articles noting that the company could benefit from rising AI infrastructure spend and strong earnings expectations.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $346.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.73 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $366.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $336.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.