Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.4% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were down 2.4% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $311.91 and last traded at $314.45. Approximately 21,704,104 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 23,883,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.09.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Rosenblatt Securities set a $279.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $310.54.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 1,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Searle & CO. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.