Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,867 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $168.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $150.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.16 and a 12-month high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

About Alphabet

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.