Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 13,589 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 191,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,589 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.0% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $33,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Enzi Wealth lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI now owns 6,005 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the second quarter. Wolff Financial Management LLC now owns 2,632 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.31.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $247.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $256.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $213.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.91.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.