Emprise Bank Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Emprise Bank cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 533 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Emprise Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $2.65 during trading on Monday, reaching $190.52. 5,904,797 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,350,936. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $202.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $184.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.45.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 154,387 shares of company stock worth $27,748,931. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.