Scotia Capital Inc. Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,480,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,736 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $262,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. REDW Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. REDW Wealth LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,325 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. ACT Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the second quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,642,180.16. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 227,850 shares of company stock valued at $58,874,814. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $304.62.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $320.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $328.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $268.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

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.