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 stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $191.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.71 and its 200 day moving average is $172.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.