Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 7.5% during the first quarter, now holding 7,513,005 shares valued at approximately $1.17 billion.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings report showed $2.31 earnings per share, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $96.43 billion reflecting a 13.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.4%, scheduled for payment on September 15th.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,513,005 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 604,779 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.1% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,173,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,380,605,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247,379 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2%

GOOG traded up $4.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $201.70. 6,029,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,026,020. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $181.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.68. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's 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 approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.