Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director Sells $291,330.00 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

GOOGL traded down $2.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $189.82. 25,111,941 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,397,740. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.68 and a 1-year high of $195.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $171.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS raised its stake in Alphabet by 12.1% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 47,077 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,808,000 after buying an additional 5,091 shares during the period. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 11,063 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.7% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 17,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,936 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% 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.