Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was down 0.2% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $193.45 and last traded at $195.08. Approximately 5,269,555 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 21,214,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.55.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.8% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $218,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 9,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 156.9% during the second quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 48,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,919,000 after purchasing an additional 29,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospect Hill Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the second quarter. Prospect Hill Management LLC now owns 27,220 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.