Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sets New 12-Month Low on Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Saturday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $147.54 and last traded at $147.74, with a volume of 39777547 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $152.63.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.55.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 26,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 128.3% in the first quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 41.5% in the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 11,556 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,392 shares during the last quarter. Baring Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Baring Financial LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 9,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% 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.