Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,282,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 477,198 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.9% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $621,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $145.60 on Monday. 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 $145.38 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $175.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.93.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

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 shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.