Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,453 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after buying an additional 57,810 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $184.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. 12.99% 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.