Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 18,195 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 706,373 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,195 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.1% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $110,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,620,196 shares in the company, valued at $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.46 on Thursday, reaching $180.22. 13,287,389 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,182,530. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average is $169.27 and its 200-day moving average is $175.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.