Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 58,713 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,542 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.8% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

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Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $5.12 on Friday, hitting $145.60. The stock had a trading volume of 62,087,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,608,267. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $176.24 and a 200-day moving average of $176.77. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.48 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.