Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 68,780 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 725,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 68,780 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $102,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank grew its position in Alphabet by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the period. CNB Bank increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $155.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.27 and a 52-week high of $161.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.