Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.1% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) dropped 0.1% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $164.65 and last traded at $165.63. Approximately 9,835,927 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 27,433,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.85.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.35.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $162.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Davis Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 2,060 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 95,512 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,840,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Alphabet by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,841 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Ashburton Jersey Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,328,000. Finally, Sage Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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.