Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director John L. Hennessy Sells 200 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.03 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.38. 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:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.