John L. Hennessy Sells 800 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,385,565. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $159.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $166.25 and a 200 day moving average of $165.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised 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. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.