Meeder Asset Management Inc. Sells 106,885 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 240,950 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 106,885 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.7% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after acquiring an additional 979,083 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after acquiring an additional 684,968 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,327,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,103,000 after acquiring an additional 282,121 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $176.80 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.40 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.80. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet 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.