Meridian Financial Partners LLC Has $1.66 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $8,232,000. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 26,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,700,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 17,367 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Independent Family Office LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Independent Family Office LLC now owns 7,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 24,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,426,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $164.74 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.46 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,865 shares of company stock valued at $27,137,693 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet 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.