Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was down 0.2% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $165.94 and last traded at $166.88. Approximately 6,073,080 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 20,012,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.19.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Pivotal Research started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.75.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after acquiring an additional 8,201 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.