Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,460,722 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 306,625 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.1% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $465,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $163.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $182.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

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.