Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.9% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 0.9% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $168.09 and last traded at $169.67. Approximately 6,389,033 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 27,146,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.29.

Specifically, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.51.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.31. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.