John Kent Walker Sells 16,820 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $189.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.17 and a 200-day moving average of $172.28. The company has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Denver PWM LLC lifted its holdings in 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. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during 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 period. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MKT Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

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.