Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

03 Oct 2024, 05:15 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 0.2% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $165.94 and last traded at $166.88. 6,073,080 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 20,012,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.19.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.75.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.50.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 178,253.1% during the 1st quarter. Vima LLC now owns 2,001,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $304,691,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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