Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Sells 4,951 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,170 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,951 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $4.18 on Wednesday, hitting $155.65. The stock had a trading volume of 30,315,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,314,735. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $163.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.61. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.64.

Alphabet Company 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.