Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.2% After Insider Selling

by · The Cerbat Gem

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report)’s stock price dropped 1.2% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $334.63 and last traded at $335.40. Approximately 12,838,882 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 21,214,410 shares. The stock had previously closed at $339.40.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.03.

View Our Latest Report on Alphabet

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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