Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Lifted by Meritas Wealth Management LLC

Meritas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,101,040,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 51.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,923,000 after buying an additional 2,190,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 179,065 shares of company stock worth $31,025,543. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.46 and a 1-year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

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.