Intact Investment Management Inc. Buys 124,220 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 491.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 149,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,220 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.