By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 45.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 553,784 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 173,859 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.9% of Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $104,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 9,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 1,571,741 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $297,530,000 after buying an additional 392,086 shares in the last quarter. Garland Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $663,000. ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $4,326,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $1,718,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.49.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.
Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %
Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $178.01 and its 200 day moving average is $177.09.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.
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.
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