Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 2.5% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was down 2.5% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $146.87 and last traded at $147.39. Approximately 6,219,280 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 28,228,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.16.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.74.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.61. The company has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.