Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.1% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $164.65 and last traded at $165.63. Approximately 9,835,927 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 27,433,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.85.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.35.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.