Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Decreased by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 736,632 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 23,492 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 4.2% of Associated Banc Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $139,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. HMV Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $1,300,000. First National Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 291,637 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $55,207,000 after purchasing an additional 6,265 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,886,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 7,567 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Postrock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $9,116,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $165.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.78. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.22 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.