Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.3% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $192.40 and last traded at $192.96. 5,644,459 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 19,604,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.63.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.19. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by 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.