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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was down 0.5% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $153.43 and last traded at $154.16. Approximately 7,059,406 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 30,165,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.86.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,839 shares of company stock valued at $32,835,757. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.64.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors 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.