Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) dropped 2.2% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $161.36 and last traded at $161.47. Approximately 4,307,362 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 20,067,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.11.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $173.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 29,159 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 16,440 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,283 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,950 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 3,287 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. 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.