Insider Selling: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sells 32,500 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 16th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00.
• On Wednesday, April 2nd, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $152.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $158.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. 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.