Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.7% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 0.7% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $147.52 and last traded at $147.60. 7,483,114 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 27,621,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.66.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.76.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $169.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 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.