Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Sells $6,870,532.68 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Kavitark Ram Shriram also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, November 7th, Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00.
• On Wednesday, October 30th, Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.3 %

Shares of GOOG traded up $9.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $186.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,239,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,549,551. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.06 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $171.26 and its 200 day moving average is $171.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 109,661 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,114,000 after buying an additional 3,261 shares during the period. Apeiron RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 15,996 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 55,107 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Insights Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Insights Inc. now owns 2,990 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.