Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.5% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 0.5% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $153.43 and last traded at $154.16. 7,059,406 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 30,165,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.86.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic upped their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.95 and its 200 day moving average is $140.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spreng Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the first quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 296 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the first quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weik Capital Management raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 1,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,264,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.