Montag A & Associates Inc. Has $52.78 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Montag A & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277,130 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,309 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.5% of Montag A & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $52,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,029 shares of company stock valued at $12,625,003 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

GOOG opened at $185.67 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $194.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.