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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares fell 2.6% on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $152.97 and last traded at $153.23. 8,184,948 shares were traded 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 on 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 owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $206.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.81.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.86 and its 200 day moving average is $164.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.