Hikari Tsushin Inc. Has $91.77 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Hikari Tsushin Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 3.2% after selling 19,471 shares, now holding 593,415 shares worth approximately $91.77 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have adjusted their positions in Alphabet, with Guardian Wealth Management Inc. growing its stake by 242.9% during the first quarter.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an ex-dividend date on September 8th, representing a 0.4% dividend yield.

Hikari Tsushin Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 593,415 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,471 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 6.2% of Hikari Tsushin Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Hikari Tsushin Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $91,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $4.7720 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.5220. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,607,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,160,371. The stock has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company's fifty day moving average price is $186.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.37.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

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.