Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Associated Banc Corp

Key Points

• Associated Banc Corp has reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.7%, owning 105,638 shares valued at approximately $16.50 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Alphabet recently reported earnings of $2.31 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.12, with revenues reaching $96.43 billion, a 13.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15, reflecting an annualized basis of $0.84 with a yield of 0.4%.

Associated Banc Corp decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,638 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,795 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 270.7% during the first quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 1,327 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 25.4% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 808,446 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $126,304,000 after purchasing an additional 163,539 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its position in Alphabet by 473.6% during the first quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 21,606 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 17,839 shares in the last quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd boosted its position in Alphabet by 41.3% during the first quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd now owns 46,833 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,317,000 after purchasing an additional 13,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.3% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,003 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.60 on Wednesday, hitting $196.92. The stock had a trading volume of 15,353,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,004,010. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company's 50 day moving average price is $180.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.53.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,572,657.16. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.