Associated Banc Corp Sells 2,499 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Associated Banc Corp cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 109,411 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,499 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 360.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 79,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Incline Global Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.6% during the 1st quarter. Incline Global Management LLC now owns 96,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,681,000 after acquiring an additional 41,836 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $169.32. 3,897,772 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,577,766. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.40 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.10 and a 200 day moving average of $171.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. This represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.