Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 3.0%, acquiring an additional 20,882 shares, bringing their total holdings to 727,255 shares valued at approximately $129 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $227.56 for Alphabet, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Sell," reflecting varied confidence in the company's future performance.
• Alphabet recently reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations, with an EPS of $2.31 and revenue of $96.43 billion, up 13.8% year-over-year.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 727,255 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,882 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $129,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn FI LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 158.9% in the 2nd quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC now owns 15,121 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,682,000 after buying an additional 9,280 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 6,345 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 11,770 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 51.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 29,618 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,188,000 after purchasing an additional 10,056 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $2.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $255.24. 41,503,403 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,489,492. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $256.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

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.