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

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,741,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 169,559 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.7% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $317,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 30th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $29,762,606 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $161.85 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $164.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.