Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell 1.5% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $165.71 and last traded at $166.63. 6,433,535 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 19,570,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.24.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $169.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.87. 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:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.