Insider Selling: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Sells 111 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Frances Arnold sold 111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total transaction of $21,366.39. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,216,315.41. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Frances Arnold also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 29th, Frances Arnold sold 111 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.98, for a total value of $18,867.78.
• On Monday, November 4th, Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $189.43 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.28.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trust Co of the South grew its position in Alphabet by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. SK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $331,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.69.

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.