Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Insider Ruth Porat Sells 17,690 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 64,768 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,334,000 after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,216,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 26,005 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,952,000 after purchasing an additional 4,307 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.