Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given New $200.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price target reduced by Scotiabank from $232.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.38.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $149.86 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $166.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.49. Alphabet has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC now owns 12,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,890,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.9% during the first quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 3,050 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,386 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,934,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the first quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 2,876 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 257,938 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,298,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.