Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.6% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were down 0.6% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $184.60 and last traded at $185.94. Approximately 3,112,496 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 17,329,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.13.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $194.35 and a 200 day moving average of $177.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 78,118 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 15.4% in the third quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 4,591 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 5,266 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.