Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider Sells $3,245,761.20 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $192.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.