Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Sells 5,559 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,559 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.1% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. United Community Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 7,497 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Barings LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,330,000. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $457,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $175.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.80 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. Corporate insiders own 12.99% 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.