Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.5% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares fell 0.5% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $153.43 and last traded at $154.16. 7,059,406 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 30,165,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.86.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $145.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. DC Investments Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $114,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $225,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $206,000. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC now owns 99 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Aspire Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.