Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 2.6% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 2.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $152.97 and last traded at $153.23. 8,184,948 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 27,476,443 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.24.

Specifically, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.81.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $170.86 and a 200-day moving average of $164.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 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.