Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 21,159 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC has increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 16.3%, acquiring an additional 21,159 shares, totaling $26,786,000 in value at the end of the second quarter.
• Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $247.13, with a 12-month high of $256.70 and a market cap of $2.99 trillion.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a low dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 150,998 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,159 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $247.13 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $256.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.32.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value 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 $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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