Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 328,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,518 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.4% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after buying an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Alphabet by 39,754.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $841,725,000 after buying an additional 6,010,548 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after buying an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,288,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,170,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $166.99 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.61, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.22 and a 200-day moving average of $167.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $206.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 193,725 shares of company stock worth $31,933,031. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.