National Bank of Canada FI Has $1.67 Billion Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,064,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,136,128 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.9% of National Bank of Canada FI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of Alphabet worth $1,669,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $189.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $171.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.63. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.68 and a 1 year high of $195.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.