Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price fell 1.1% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $288.67 and last traded at $289.45. 59,715,294 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 65% from the average session volume of 36,140,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $292.81.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Alphabet from $247.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. CIBC lifted their price objective on Alphabet to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 8.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.