Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 489,909 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,974 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $93,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Financial Services grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 10,564 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,012,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,019,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 119,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,941 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,425 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 31,500 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,999,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,609 shares of company stock valued at $21,809,990 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $5.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $181.58. The company had a trading volume of 19,447,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,667,480. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $194.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.
Read Our Latest Research Report on GOOG
Alphabet Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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