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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 0.1% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $190.42 and last traded at $190.90. Approximately 4,095,828 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 21,477,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.01.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% during the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.