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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price dropped 1% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $163.32 and last traded at $163.57. Approximately 4,753,406 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 26,974,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.16.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Argus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $206.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.76.

Alphabet Stock Performance

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

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $53,000. 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.