Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,560 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.7% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,581,427,000 after acquiring an additional 757,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after acquiring an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Alphabet stock opened at $165.49 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.03 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

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.