Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.1% on Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $164.65 and last traded at $165.63. 9,835,927 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 27,433,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.85.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.14.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $162.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $787,000. New Hampshire Trust grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 58.4% in the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 1,951,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $272,655,000 after purchasing an additional 200,891 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.