Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,115 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 140.6% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of GOOG opened at $165.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.