Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s 5th Largest Position

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 74.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,340 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,700 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 6.8% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after buying an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Alphabet by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,621 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $629,008,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $145.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.38 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.