Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 3,164 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. sold 3,164 shares of Alphabet Inc., reducing its position by 2.7% to 113,277 shares, valued at approximately $17.68 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet, which decreased his ownership by 1.27%, while insiders collectively sold 249,409 shares valued at over $43.52 million.
• Alphabet's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.31, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 13.8% year-over-year, totaling $96.43 billion for the quarter.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,277 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,164 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,300,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Kidder Stephen W lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 3,608 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $194.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $176.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.

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