Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Insider Ruth Porat Sells 17,690 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

GOOG opened at $181.58 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.45. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

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

About Alphabet

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.