Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $164.94 and last traded at $165.11. 3,330,577 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 19,586,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.74.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,342,143.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.90.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after acquiring an additional 979,083 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,414,179,000 after buying an additional 684,968 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after buying an additional 636,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.