Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $27.33 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 164,772 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,522 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.8% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after purchasing an additional 18,700,111 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 587.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 116.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 18,810.2% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,838,460. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.00 on Monday, reaching $180.35. 17,439,302 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,130,313. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $163.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.90.

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.