Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Sells 84,870 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 15.7%, selling 84,870 shares and retaining 456,970 shares, making Alphabet its 5th largest investment.
• Insiders sold a total of 222,210 shares of Alphabet stock worth approximately $41.7 million over the last three months, with the CEO and a director substantially reducing their ownership stakes.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Alphabet shares, with recent price target updates from various firms ranging from $210 to $260 per share.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,970 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 84,870 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.5% of Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $71,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after purchasing an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 75,402 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 7,319 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.17. 26,091,032 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,868,892. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $196.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.82. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $236.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.