First Merchants Corp Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Merchants Corp grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 204,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of First Merchants Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 22.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,206,000 after buying an additional 11,481 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $175.42 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.14.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

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.