Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 4.7% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded down 4.7% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $168.33 and last traded at $168.97. 6,003,321 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 19,474,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.33.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $169.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.