Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Montag & Caldwell LLC

Montag & Caldwell LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 38.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,109 shares during the quarter. Montag & Caldwell LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $161.47 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value 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 approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,497 shares of company stock worth $20,837,150 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.