Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Insider John Kent Walker Sells 17,690 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

John Kent Walker also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 30th, John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $184.54. The company had a trading volume of 11,152,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,950,125. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after acquiring an additional 611,233 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,206,000 after acquiring an additional 11,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.