Meeder Asset Management Inc. Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. dramatically reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 81.1%, selling 16,679 shares to end up with 3,875 shares valued at $599,000.
• Insiders, including Director Kavitark Ram Shriram and John Kent Walker, sold a combined total of 273,219 shares recently, indicating a significant decrease in their respective holdings.
• Alphabet Inc. plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 on September 15th, representing a 0.4% yield and an annualized payout ratio of 8.95%.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 81.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,875 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 16,679 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $196.52. The company had a trading volume of 26,014,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,916,484. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.76 and a 200 day moving average of $173.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Westpark Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

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.