Belmont Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Belmont Capital LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,100 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,780 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of Belmont Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $3.30 on Thursday, hitting $158.65. 12,694,269 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,288,351. The company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.13 and a 200-day moving average of $175.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.64.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.