Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 3.4% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price fell 3.4% on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $157.61 and last traded at $156.70. 9,270,728 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 25,863,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.24.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $180.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.