Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Bought by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,860 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,269 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $23,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $0.43 on Thursday, reaching $199.75. The stock had a trading volume of 19,647,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,974,156. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.37.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.