Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 16,410 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $197.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.