Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $27.37 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 747 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $187.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.