Merit Financial Group LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 34.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,885 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 24,760 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Alphabet by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 33.0% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares during the period. CNB Bank boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.99. The stock had a trading volume of 22,767,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,353,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $104.70 and a one year high of $176.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 48,076 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.20, for a total value of $6,836,407.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,809,495. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 over 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.