Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Sells $18,028.62 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Frances Arnold sold 111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.42, for a total transaction of $18,028.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,768,936.16. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Frances Arnold also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 28th, Frances Arnold sold 121 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.30, for a total value of $20,606.30.
• On Thursday, January 30th, Frances Arnold sold 110 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $22,000.00.
• On Tuesday, December 31st, Frances Arnold sold 111 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total value of $21,366.39.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $157.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.19 and a 200-day moving average of $176.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 28,424 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,395,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Marotta Asset Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% in the first quarter. Marotta Asset Management now owns 2,724 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,574 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Hobart Private Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.49.

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.