Insider Selling: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sells 22,500 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares in the company, valued at $355,743,153.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, September 18th, Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00.
• On Wednesday, September 4th, Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00.
• On Wednesday, August 21st, Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00.
• On Wednesday, August 7th, Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00.
• On Wednesday, July 17th, Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL traded down $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $165.86. 17,705,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,479,340. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.21 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.02. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Warwick Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Vectors Research Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $289,000. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $1,172,000. Finally, Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $696,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.