Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 86,421 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,067,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,421 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.1% of Scotia Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $391,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,497 shares of company stock valued at $20,837,150. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.49.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $159.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $167.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.28.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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.