Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Plans $0.21 Quarterly Dividend

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of 0.21 per share by the information services provider on Monday, March 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th.

Alphabet has a payout ratio of 8.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Alphabet to earn $10.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.2%.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $331.33. The company had a trading volume of 51,573,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,102,678. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.68, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,037,964 shares of company stock valued at $95,259,727. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ring Mountain Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. HRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Avaii Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.