Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 2.2% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 2.2% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $168.91 and last traded at $169.80. 15,644,144 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 22,538,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.69.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,289 shares of company stock valued at $36,724,534 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.67.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 8,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 4,867 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 8,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 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.