Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,441 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 18,299 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,551,533,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,701 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

GOOG opened at $167.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.13 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.