Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 2.3% Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price fell 2.3% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $167.08 and last traded at $168.01. 15,179,054 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 30,434,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.95.

Specifically, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 253,209 shares of company stock valued at $36,711,144. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.44.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.62. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in 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.