Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 2.4% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded down 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $311.22 and last traded at $313.72. 33,400,639 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 36,748,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $321.27.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $725,942,020.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,750,916.64. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $302,418.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,740 shares in the company, valued at $3,721,580. The trade was a 7.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. President Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, November 20th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $306.00 target price (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.65.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business’s 50-day moving average is $276.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.91.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Corsicana & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.