Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.

Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489,909 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,974 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.7% of Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $93,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,609 shares of company stock valued at $21,809,990 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $186.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.08.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.