Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.1% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $191.68 and last traded at $192.19. 2,727,792 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 14,674,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.29.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade 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 this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MSA Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. MSA Advisors LLC now owns 116,565 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,380,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the second quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 61,367 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,256,000 after buying an additional 7,722 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $840,000. Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 135,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,856,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 2,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.