Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 61,210 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,684,982 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 61,210 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $511,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $164.08 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $182.36 and its 200 day moving average is $178.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.