Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $179.96 and last traded at $180.07. Approximately 3,900,260 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 19,613,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.28.

Specifically, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Pivotal Research increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $164.92 and a 200-day moving average of $171.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G PLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 162,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,149,000 after buying an additional 8,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,628,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $439,405,000 after buying an additional 115,716 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% 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.