Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Montchanin Asset Management LLC's 4th Largest Position

Montchanin Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,728 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,100 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 6.2% of Montchanin Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Montchanin Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,847,000. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $666,000. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $595,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Benchmark restated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, reaching $174.16. The stock had a trading volume of 11,495,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,102,129. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.47. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

About Alphabet

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.