Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,794 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.79.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $3.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $193.93. 56,671,075 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,920,125. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $174.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.13. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% 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.