Monarch Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGLFree Report) by 37.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,911 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,646 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $177.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.51. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGLGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

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