Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Has $14.99 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 2.2%, now owning 96,942 shares valued at nearly $15 million, marking it as the 23rd largest holding in its portfolio.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.31, surpassing estimates, as well as a revenue of approximately $96.43 billion for the quarter.
• The company is set to distribute a $0.21 quarterly dividend to shareholders, reflecting a 0.4% yield and a low payout ratio of 8.95%.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,942 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,228 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.6% of Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nia Impact Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Enzi Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,674,273 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,922,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,638,750. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.