Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.6% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell 0.6% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $184.60 and last traded at $185.94. 3,112,496 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 17,329,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.13.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % 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 2,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This trade represents a 15.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $194.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.