Merit Financial Group LLC Has $22.91 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,300 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,410 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% during the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of GOOG traded up $3.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $197.55. 21,974,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,381,408. The company has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.85. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $202.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.56.

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.