Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,145,601 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 95,298 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $205,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,064,073 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,178,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,310,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after buying an additional 597,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $166.99 on Wednesday. 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 $162.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 193,725 shares of company stock valued at $31,933,031. Company insiders own 11.55% 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.