First Merchants Corp Sells 3,239 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.6%, owning 198,312 shares after selling 3,239 shares in the second quarter, with holdings valued at approximately $34.95 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares worth over $8 million, resulting in a 1.34% decrease in his position, while insiders sold a total of 246,150 shares valued at $55.8 million in the last 90 days.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.3%, and several analysts have raised their price targets, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

First Merchants Corp trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,312 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,239 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.4% of First Merchants Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Financial Council LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Financial Council LLC now owns 5,800 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Enzi Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $253.30 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $231.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho set a $295.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.24.

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.

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