Associated Banc Corp Purchases 1,680 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Associated Banc Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 697,034 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.4% of Associated Banc Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $97,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $174.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.81. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.35 and a 12-month high of $178.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.