Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 7,296 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,434,764 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,296 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.4% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $273,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $927,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,184,399 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,384,039,000 after buying an additional 704,875 shares during the period. Finally, Oriental Harbor Investment Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $80,656,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,297 shares of company stock worth $20,804,770. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG traded up $1.70 on Monday, reaching $161.10. The company had a trading volume of 7,649,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,377,317. The company has a fifty day moving average of $170.50 and a 200-day moving average of $177.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.71.

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.