Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.1% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $26,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 20,990.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,171,151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,157,413 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Alphabet by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,792,317,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $163.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.38. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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.