Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $15.13 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.6%, owning approximately $15.13 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 21st largest position.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings showed a profit of $2.31 EPS, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 13.8% year-over-year.
• Several institutional investors have made significant movements, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake valued at approximately $2.62 billion during the first quarter.

Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,835 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,369 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Meridian Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 18,562.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $202.11 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $181.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

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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