Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires 3,202 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 41.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,942 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,202 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Alphabet by 6.8% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $120,834,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 26.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $167.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $182.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.