Merit Financial Group LLC Has $31.94 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 206,512 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,508 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $5.47 on Friday, reaching $173.68. 35,701,262 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,161,954. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.14 and a 200-day moving average of $174.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.