Rakuten Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,400 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,458 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Rakuten Securities Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Rakuten Securities Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $1.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $165.19. 56,734,523 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,697,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total transaction of $5,742,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,555,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 228,070 shares of company stock worth $37,745,632 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.