Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Sells 13,468 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,027 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 13,468 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 7.3% of Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn FI LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 290.6% during the first quarter. Brooklyn FI LLC now owns 6,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,560 shares in the last quarter. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $1,516,000. Fox Hill Wealth Management increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 14,471 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 8,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 47,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,200,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total value of $3,502,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,012,608.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Alphabet stock traded down $3.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $183.42. 23,032,362 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,822,788. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.68. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.83 and a fifty-two week high of $187.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.