Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $154.70 and last traded at $156.56. 5,954,853 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 27,298,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.07.
Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.
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Alphabet Trading Down 4.0 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.
About Alphabet
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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.
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