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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $184.00 and last traded at $184.91. Approximately 3,895,541 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 28,364,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.24.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,880,764.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 123,788 shares of company stock worth $21,143,403. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.66.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.8% in the second quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 144,051 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,239,000 after purchasing an additional 5,283 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 57,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $235,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.6% during the second quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 87,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,007,000 after buying an additional 6,210 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 21,059 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.