Belmont Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Belmont Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 58.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,381 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,800 shares during the period. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after buying an additional 1,219,606 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,380,605,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247,379 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.36. The company had a trading volume of 19,461,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,427,163. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $167.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.88.

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.