Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 1% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $163.32 and last traded at $163.57. 4,753,406 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 26,974,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.16.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,342,143.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $222.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.76.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.05.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 59.2% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.