Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Sells $168,036.00 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total value of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $292.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $260.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.43. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $304.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley grew its position in Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.