Monarch Capital Management Inc. Sells 340 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,166 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.0% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. IAM Advisory LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 10,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 5,697 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Veery Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 6,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 211,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,209,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,174,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $197.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $202.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.