Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was down 1% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $169.49 and last traded at $170.98. Approximately 5,301,551 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 19,648,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.65.

Specifically, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $163.81 and a 200 day moving average of $170.63. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in Alphabet by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.