Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were down 0.2% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $165.94 and last traded at $166.88. Approximately 6,073,080 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 20,012,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.19.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.75.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% during the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 11.1% in the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.