Monarch Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 37.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,911 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,646 shares during the quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,879,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,364,105. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.