Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 3.3% After Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded down 3.3% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $159.61 and last traded at $158.64. 8,011,628 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 17,835,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.08.

Specifically, 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 transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.