Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.1% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 0.1% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $190.42 and last traded at $190.90. 4,095,828 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 21,477,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.01.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.45 and a 200 day moving average of $173.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Mason & Associates Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 7,027 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Flywheel Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV grew its holdings in Alphabet by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 9,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.