Nicolet Bankshares Inc. Sells 4,002 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Nicolet Bankshares Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 11.9%, now holding 29,490 shares valued at approximately $4.6 million.
• Alphabet has reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.31, exceeding estimates and showing a 13.8% year-on-year revenue growth.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and JPMorgan Chase, significantly increased their stakes in Alphabet during the first quarter, indicating growing confidence in the company.

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,490 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,002 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of Nicolet Bankshares Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Nicolet Bankshares Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $2,622,943,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 18,562.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,323,323 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,237,733,000 after buying an additional 14,246,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $209.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $211.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $188.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.76. The company has a market cap of $2.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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