Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Insider John Kent Walker Sells 17,690 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

John Kent Walker also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 30th, John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $186.39. 6,348,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,430,088. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 78,118 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 4,591 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 5,266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.