Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 3.4% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 3.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $157.61 and last traded at $156.70. 9,270,728 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 25,863,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.24.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35 % 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $179.66 and a 200-day moving average of $176.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.