Insider Selling: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells $3,239,868.40 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $191.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $180.24 and a 200-day moving average of $172.50. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.44.

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.