Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 108,595 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,041,511 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 108,595 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $145,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% in the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 301.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $156.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.63 and a 1-year high of $160.22. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.71.

About Alphabet

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.