Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s 10th Largest Position

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 939,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,152 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $165,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Westpark Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.54.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $254.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $209.36 and a 200 day moving average of $180.31. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

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.