Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Insider John Kent Walker Sells 16,820 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $193.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $202.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $181.25 and its 200-day moving average is $173.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.