Wesbanco Bank Inc. Sells 1,864 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,788 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,864 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

GOOG opened at $174.92 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $161.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.88.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.