Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Purchased by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,024,516 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 342,101 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.3% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $766,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $2.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $153.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,461,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,435,374. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $167.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.47.

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, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.88.

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.