Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.4% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was down 0.4% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $165.55 and last traded at $166.43. Approximately 5,572,467 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 17,801,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.14.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $181.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.