Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 3.3% on Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 3.3% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $159.61 and last traded at $158.64. 8,011,628 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 17,835,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.08.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.2 %

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 business has a fifty day moving average of $182.36 and a 200-day moving average of $178.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,376,706,000 after buying an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.