Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,093 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,509 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

GOOG traded down $1.72 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $166.01. 36,202,053 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,645,192. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $166.31 and a 200 day moving average of $176.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total value of $5,742,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,555,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $451,452,029.28. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.88.

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.