Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell 1.2% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $179.96 and last traded at $180.07. 3,900,260 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 19,613,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.28.

Specifically, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,765,168.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents 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 accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $164.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after buying an additional 979,083 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,414,179,000 after purchasing an additional 684,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.