Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.4% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) dropped 0.4% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $165.55 and last traded at $166.43. Approximately 5,572,467 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 17,801,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.14.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $181.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.