Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.3% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded down 1.3% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $156.82 and last traded at $157.04. 7,321,344 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 28,143,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.07.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho cut their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.46.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.9 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth 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:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 33,178 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after acquiring an additional 8,231 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 19,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,982,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp now owns 4,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 178,351 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,580,000 after buying an additional 11,516 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is 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.