Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.3% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were down 0.3% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $190.89 and last traded at $191.44. Approximately 6,793,521 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 27,318,568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.96.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.08.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.