Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director John L. Hennessy Sells 1,500 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $2.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.82. The company had a trading volume of 25,111,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,397,740. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.60. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.68 and a one year high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.