Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.7% After Insider Selling

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $163.90 and last traded at $164.83. Approximately 11,385,550 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 27,136,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.63.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $167.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,097,000. Fulcrum Equity Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 2,924 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 99,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,505,000 after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Alphabet by 19.2% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 137,669 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,703,000 after purchasing an additional 22,169 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.