Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.7% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $147.52 and last traded at $147.60. 7,483,114 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 27,621,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.66.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.76.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $168.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.