Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,155 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 17.9% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 8.4% during the first quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 31,244 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,434 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. CICC Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. China Renaissance lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $303.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $277.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.13. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $291.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total transaction of $8,129,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 190,896 shares of company stock worth $45,092,175. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.