Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Lifted by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,172,899 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,108,301 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.2% of National Bank of Canada FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,115,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mosaic Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Financial Group LLC now owns 10,999 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 152,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,355,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597 shares during the last quarter. Family Legacy Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 32,279 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Riggs Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $337,000. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory increased its holdings in Alphabet by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 15,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $144.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Westpark Capital raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.10.

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.