Meyer Handelman Co. Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 29.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,758 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,707 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,154,000 after buying an additional 2,416,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after buying an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total transaction of $3,973,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $394,746,532.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.56. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.35 and a 1 year high of $180.85.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Alphabet Company 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.