Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 306,625 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,460,722 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 306,625 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.1% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $465,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,171,151,000 after buying an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,317,000 after buying an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in 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 during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.51. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.