Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Saturday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $145.38 and last traded at $145.60, with a volume of 62123086 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $150.72.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,442 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,292,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.9% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 201,974 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,497,000 after purchasing an additional 12,966 shares during the period. Makena Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Makena Capital Management LLC now owns 91,834 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,231,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 29.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,189 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. 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.