Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Sells 2,021 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,797 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,021 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.6% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $177.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $165.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532. 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.