Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.8% on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 0.8% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $152.18 and last traded at $153.70. Approximately 13,055,008 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 30,692,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.92.

Specifically, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.49, for a total transaction of $28,698.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,436.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 250,739 shares of company stock worth $35,934,957 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.39.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $144.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 280 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.