Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,835 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $183.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.30. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,029 shares of company stock valued at $12,625,003 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. China Renaissance raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

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.