Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA Acquires 170 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,677 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.54.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $254.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $209.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.31.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.