Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 2.2% After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price traded down 2.2% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $276.26 and last traded at $277.54. 28,762,504 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 35,943,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $283.72.

Specifically, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.33, for a total value of $269,342.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,098,584.61. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. CIBC lifted their target price on Alphabet to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. CICC Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $303.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.